Ad Infinitum Part Three: Future Perfect
by Kezhke
Summary: Sequel to 1 and 2. Q2’s sudden appearance helps solve the mystery of Harry Kim's son and ultimately leads to a new journey for the younger daughter of Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres. Final installment.
1. Chapter 1

**Ad Infinitum**

**Part Three: Future Perfect**

_Synopsis: Set during various periods of time post-"Endgame." _

_In Part One, Miral Paris and Andrew Kim entered Starfleet Academy and began dating, to the chagrin of their parents. After four years together, and faced with the possibility that their first duty assignments take them far away from each other, they decided to get married. A party at Tom and B'Elanna's to celebrate their graduation and engagement was interrupted when Q2 appeared and announced, to everyone's confusion, that he was the reason Andrew existed._

_Part Two began in the past. After eight years of trying to conceive, Harry Kim's wife Libby became pregnant, but she miscarried the baby. Harry later went on a routine mission and ended up back in time to 2377. With help from Reg Barclay at the Pathfinder Lab and Seven of Nine (still on Voyager in the Delta Quadrant), Harry used a stolen Borg temporal transmitter to return to the right year. When he came home, he found his wife sitting in the living room with a son she claimed he'd always had. _

_Part Three continues where Part One left off, with Q2's sudden appearance, solving the mystery of Andrew Kim's existence and ultimately leading to a new journey for Tom and B'Elanna's younger daughter L'Naan._

_Pairings: P/T, K/f, J/C, Miral Paris/m, Q2/f._

_Rated: M. Probably unnecessary, but deals with some frank discussions of sexuality, and I don't want anyone to be caught off-guard.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence, 2400**

In the midst of celebrating the graduation of Cadets – now Ensigns – Miral Paris and Andrew Kim, as well as their recent engagement, there was a flash of light, and a young male voice cried out, "Aunt Kathy! I can't wait to attend my first wedding!"

Q Junior took all of two seconds to annoy his hosts before Admiral Janeway sat down beside him on the sofa and explained, "You can't interrupt our lives for your own pleasure, Junior. This is an important day for Miral and Andrew."

"But, Aunt Kathy," he began. He suddenly realized Chakotay was loitering at Janeway's side, ready to protect and defend her. "Did you two finally get together?"

"Junior, you were saying?" Janeway prompted with some annoyance.

"Oh, yeah, Andrew," he said, turning to the younger Kim, "I'm the reason you exist."

"This is insane," Andrew said, pacing up and down Miral's bedroom.

Miral sat on the bed, watching him. For his sake, she was trying to stay as calm as possible. "Honey, I know what you're thinking, but it does make a little sense. I mean, how did you just appear one day?" She looked at Harry for support.

He sat down next to Miral on her bed. "He didn't just appear. I remember everything about his birth and childhood. Everything up until today. Don't you?" he asked his wife.

Libby nodded in confirmation. "Of course I do. You don't forget six hours of labor."

"Well, let's think through this like Starfleet officers," Miral suggested. "Have you encountered this Q at any point between Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant and today?"

"No," Harry told her.

"What about time travel?" she asked. "Did you ever get caught up in a temporal rift or something? Ever go back in time?"

"You cadets today," Harry chided. "You think all the strange phenomena of the universe can be explained by either the Q or time travel. Real life doesn't usually work that way."

"But if you did travel back in time, Harry," his wife reasoned, "and returned at the exact second you disappeared, maybe you wouldn't remember that you did?" She looked to Miral to confirm her understanding of the space-time continuum was right.

"But if that happened, everything he did in the past would have been erased," Andrew argued. "That's what we learned in Introduction to Temporal Mechanics."

"I don't have those answers," Harry said. "All I know is that the rules of temporal mechanics seldom match what actually pans out."

"Maybe we should have taken the advanced seminar," Miral said wryly.

Harry looked at Andrew intensely. "I know that you are my son, and that I remember raising you. Period."

"Mom, when was I born?"

"2378," Libby said without a pause.

"And, Dad, when did you return to the Alpha Quadrant?"

"2378," Harry answered immediately.

The inherent contradiction caught Miral and Andrew's attention, and they looked first at each other, acknowledging it, and then at Harry and Libby. They stared back, blinking, not understanding the confusion etched on Miral and Andrew's faces.

"Harry, when did you and Libby get married?" Miral asked.

"2381."

"How old was I?"

"Three."

"And did you have any children when you got married?"

"No," Harry said slowly. He was starting to get confused.

"But Miral and I are the same age, Dad," Andrew pointed out. "How can that be?"

Harry turned to Libby. "Do you remember me traveling back in time before Voyager returned?"

Libby shook her head. "No, I don't. The first time we talked was when the Voyager crew was in quarantine, right when you came back from the Delta Quadrant."

"You don't even remember conceiving me? That makes me feel a little less than special."

"Drew," Harry said a little gruffly, "I think it makes _me_ less than special, not you."

"Well," Miral said, trying to shift focus, "then the Q explanation is possible." She sighed. "Andrew, I know this is hard for you to hear, but maybe we need to listen to his story."

Andrew looked at his mother for support. She shrugged sympathetically. "Okay," Andrew consented. "Bring him in."

Qs rarely require summons, and true to his nature, Q Junior flashed into the bedroom upon hearing his name. "So you've sorted this out as much as your puny human brains will let you. Now are you ready to hear what really happened? Harry – can I call you Harry? – do you remember stardate 71246?"

"Not really," Harry admitted. "Should I?"

"You went on an assignment in a shuttle alone, and you ended up about fifteen years in the past."

"I did?" Harry tried to ignore Miral, who was staring at him triumphantly, her theory of a temporal anomaly proven correct. He started to remember something, something very fuzzy, like an old dream he'd once had. "I did."

"You thought it was too easy to land your shuttle from the future," Q Junior continued. "You wondered why no one asked you any questions, why no one asked you for an explanation of who you were or why your shuttle had a transwarp signature."

"Yes. I had the wrong uniform, but no one seemed to notice," Harry added. "I remember that Reg Barclay and I had to break into Starfleet Command for some reason…"

"You stole a Borg temporal transmitter and asked Seven of Nine to help you figure out how to get back to the right year," Q Junior explained. The sequence of events flew out of his mouth with the ease of explaining how to make a tossed salad. "Actually, I wasn't sure how you were going to get back. That part was pretty clever of you. And seeing Seven of Nine again wasn't all that bad. I forgot what a major babe she was."

"'Babe'?" Libby repeated.

"I think he means she was very attractive," Miral surmised.

"What does all this have to do with how Andrew was born?" Harry asked.

Q sat down on the armchair in the corner of Miral's room and propped his feet up on the window ledge. "You wound up at Libby's apartment and, she was _really_ happy to see you, and you two –"

"We get the picture, Q," Harry grumbled. "But why would I have done that if I went back in time? I could have disrupted the entire timeline. Didn't I know what I was doing?"

"Oh, that's easy," Q Junior said, tucking his hands behind his head to get comfortable. "You didn't know because I didn't want you to."

"You?"

Q nodded. "Yeah, you didn't encounter a temporal rift. I sent you back in time."

"What? Why?"

"So you would conceive Andrew, of course."

"Why?" Andrew repeated firmly as he crossed the room to the armchair.

Q Junior sat up. "So you and Miral would get married. Honestly, you humans have such difficulty processing the simplest facts."

"You sent my dad back in time to make sure Miral and I would end up getting married?" Andrew leaned down, challenging Q with total skepticism. But with another flash of light, he was challenging the air. He looked at Miral. "Why does he care so much about us getting married?"

At the same time, Libby was grappling with her own reconstruction of the past. Unseen by either Andrew or Miral, she mouthed to Harry, "You had time-travel sex with me?" He shrugged.

A knock came on the door, and B'Elanna poked her head in. "Most of the guests are gone," she told them. "They thought maybe you needed some time alone. Can I bring anybody anything?"

"Is Q out there?" Andrew asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, but he's behaving himself for the moment. He's trying to convince Admiral Janeway he's matured."

"Thanks, Mom," Miral said. "We'll be out in a minute."

B'Elanna nodded and left, pulling the door closed behind her.

"I remember," Harry said slowly. Three heads turned to look at him. "I remember that your mother and I didn't have any children, and we always fought about it. We wanted to have a child."

"I had a miscarriage once," Libby recalled. "I was devastated." She turned to Miral. "But we took care of you and L'Naan when you were little."

"I remember that, too," Miral realized. "You used to make cookies with me. You and Harry were so nice to us."

"We loved you," Libby told her simply. "Since we didn't have any kids of our own."

"What do you mean?" Andrew cried hysterically. "What about me?"

"I remember the day Libby went into labor," Harry said. "I remember both lives."

_  
**Starfleet Command, Planetary Operations Center, 2378**_

"_Lieutenant Kim," Commander Fallal called, "we have an incoming transmission from your wife."_

_Harry looked up from his console with a slight blush on his cheeks. One of the benefits of working planetside, he knew, was that it was easy for families to stay in touch. But he had a very strong sense of duty – that it should be separate from one's personal life – and having his wife interrupt the new sensor test was not the best way to make an impression on his commanding officer._

"_I'm sorry, sir," he said as he approached Fallal. "She knows not to do that. I'll be fast."_

"_Harry," Fallal said easily, "she's pregnant. Give her a break."_

"_Yes, sir." He activated the console, and his annoyance dissipated when he saw Libby's face, plumped by pregnancy and smiling at him. "We're in the middle of a field test," he told her quietly._

"_I know you're busy with the new sensor grid," she said. "So I'll make it fast."_

"_Is everything okay?"_

"_Everything's fine," she told him. "I just wanted to tell you to meet me at the hospital. I'm going to have the baby."_

"_You – you're in labor? Right now?"_

_Libby nodded, still smiling. It was impossible; she seemed in too good a mood for a woman in labor._

"_The contractions are about ten minutes apart," she reported. "Finish the test and meet me there." _

"_I can't believe this is really happening," he said with disbelief._

"_Just meet me at the hospital as soon as you can get away," she said. "And Harry? I love you."_

"_I love you, too. I'm on my way right now." He looked up and saw Fallal trying to pretend he hadn't overheard. "Permission to be relieved, sir?"_

"_Of course. And congratulations, Lieutenant."_

"I remember that," Libby said softly, "except you never worked with anyone named Fallal."

Miral took Andrew's hands in her own. "Andrew, I can't explain how I remember growing up without you, and how seeing your face is one of my earliest memories. I remember both lives, too. But it doesn't matter why it happened, okay? We're here now, and we're getting married, and that's all that matters."

Andrew turned to look at Harry, who raised an eyebrow to say she was right. "Okay," Andrew acquiesced.

"What should we do about Q?" Libby asked.

"He can stay if he wants," Miral determined. She held up a hand before Andrew could protest. "We might learn more from him."

"He'd better behave," he grumbled, sounding to Miral and Libby exactly like his father.

* * *

"Tom, make a toast," Admiral Janeway suggested.

Tom grinned. "Yes, ma'am." He looked around the dining table at those who'd remained after Q's sudden appearance. It was a much smaller crowd, but it was one that included the most important people in Miral and Andrew's lives.

Tom still wasn't entirely certain that marriage was necessarily the best choice for them, particularly on the heels of their Academy graduation, but he had come to recognize in the past few weeks that his daughter was rapidly turning into an adult, and one of whom he could be proud.

He stood and lifted his glass of champagne. "To your future. May you find everything you're looking for in your new Starfleet careers, and may your marriage bring you as much happiness as mine has brought me." He winked at his daughter and took a drink.

"That was pretty eloquent," B'Elanna murmured to him as he sat back down.

"I've had twenty-two years to perfect it," he replied.

"I'd like to say something," Andrew Kim declared a little nervously. He rose, knocking his chair over as he did. Harry closed his eyes and shook his head a little, and Libby hit him across the bicep when she noticed. L'Naan graciously picked up Andrew's chair while he stood, slightly shaking, champagne flute raised mid-air.

"Go ahead, Drew," Tom encouraged.

"I just wanted to say to you all that I know that you weren't necessarily thrilled when you found out Miral and I were dating, and I'm sure the news of our engagement was even worse for you." He ignored their feigned protests that he was wrong and continued, one hand gently on Miral's shoulder. "But it really means a lot to celebrate with our friends and family."

"And one Q," L'Naan helpfully added. She smiled at Q Junior, who was sitting on the corner of the table. He smiled back at L'Naan, tipping his champagne in her direction.

"To Miral and Andrew," Janeway said, and the group clinked glasses before starting to eat.

"Q, pass the mashed potatoes?" Chakotay asked. The request dish flashed into his waiting hands.

"Junior," Janeway warned.

"If you want to attend the wedding," Miral said gently to him, "you have to promise not to do that."

Q Junior frowned. "All right." He flashed the mashed potatoes back across the table, and then he picked them up with an audible groan and handed them to Chakotay.

"Thank you."

"So, Q, Junior, whatever it is you want to be called," L'Naan asked, "what are your plans for the rest of the night? When are you going back to the Continuum?"

"I think you should stay here," Miral suggested. "Trying sleeping and passing time in our realm. It'll be good practice for you." She ignored Andrew, who looked as though he wanted to phaser her, and turned instead to her parents. "If it's okay with you."

"I don't know how I feel about having a Q stay at my house," B'Elanna admitted. "No offense, but you Q always seem to cause trouble wherever you go."

"None taken," Junior responded politely. "Maybe I could stay with Itchy. Where is he anyway?"

"If you mean Commander Icheb," Andrew said, "he lives near Headquarters."

"You can meet him somewhere else in the morning," L'Naan suggested. "I don't think it's a good idea for a Q to go near Headquarters."

"No," he agreed. "The last time a Q appeared there…" He didn't elaborate, but a room full of Starfleet officers could guess it hadn't been pretty. "Can I stay with you, Aunt Kathy?"

Chakotay and Janeway exchanged a glance. She sighed and said begrudgingly, "Of course."

"Maybe before you head back to Indiana, we could show you around," L'Naan offered. "Show you some of the things we humans do for fun."

* * *

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"Da-ad," L'Naan said, drawing the name out into two syllables, the way she and Miral always did when they wanted their father to know he was being petulant. She looked up into his eyes, their faces mere centimeters apart. "I am not going to marry him. I'm just being a good host." She planted a kiss on his cheek to reassure him before skipping away.

"B'Elanna," Tom whined.

She threw up her hands. "I don't even know where to begin. Is it just me, or are our lives suddenly like a holonovel?"

"Suddenly?"

_  
**USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant, Private Quarters of Lieutenants Paris and Torres, 2377**_

"_This was," B'Elanna declared as she eased slowly into bed, hands protectively around her belly, "the worst day of my life."_

_Tom climbed in beside her. "Of your __life__? I doubt it. Getting assimilated by the Borg doesn't top this?"_

"_Well, it's the worst day of the baby's life. Computer, decrease illumination to twenty-five percent." She pulled the blankets up to her chin. "If I wasn't the one experiencing this, I'd think it was just some joke you were playing to make me regret ever wanting to change the baby's DNA."_

_Tom's voice dropped an octave, indicating his seriousness, as he said, "B'Elanna, I would never joke about the baby."_

"_I know," she acknowledged. "It's just so ridiculous. A rogue band of Klingons destroys their ship to get near our baby? Come on." B'Elanna turned to him. "What would Captain Proton do?"_

_Tom laid a hand on her belly. "He would probably make the __kuvah'magh__ his new sidekick."_

"_I don't think Harry would like that," she said, placing a hand atop his and lacing their fingers together._

"_Harry doesn't have a choice. Besides, it's about time for Buster Kincaid to get a starring role in his own program."_

_B'Elanna didn't answer but tried to imagine under what circumstances Harry would end up with his own family. It didn't seem likely on Voyager. "Tom?" Her voice was soft, barely audible._

"_Yes?"_

"_If we have another daughter, I don't want her to be anything special. Just an ordinary baby born under ordinary circumstances, okay?"_

_As B'Elanna closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep, she felt a hand caress her hair and heard Tom's loving voice say, "Somehow I doubt that's possible with you as her mother."_

"Every time we encounter the Q," she remembered, "they get us into trouble."

"Remember the civil war?"

"You looked very handsome in your Union uniform," she remembered with a fond smile.

"Really? You never said anything. More handsome than I did as an American soldier in World War II?"

She thought for a moment. "No, but more handsome than that time your flight team had the World War III party."

Tom winced. "That was a terrible theme." He reflected a moment, and then met her eyes with a delighted smile. "You did look pretty great in the leather outfit you wore, though."

* * *

**Fisherman's Wharf, Caffe de Luca**

"What do I do with this?" Q Junior asked, waving a cloth napkin in the air.

L'Naan snatched it from his hand and placed it in his lap. "You keep it there until you need to wipe your mouth," she explained patiently. "It's called being polite."

"What sort of food are we about to try?" He craned his neck to get a look at the patrons around the café.

"Espresso," she explained. "Coffee. Raktajino. Vulcan mocha. It's a custom among a number of humanoid species to drink some kind of coffee after dinner." She tapped his forearm. "Stop looking around. People will think you're weird."

Q Junior looked at her with a delighted smirk. "You're about to ingest liquid for recreation, and I'm the weird one?"

Across the table the enfianced Andrew and Miral exchanged a wary look. L'Naan could read their thoughts clearly: _Maybe this was a bad idea_. She wondered if Q could tell what they were thinking.

"Q, just be quiet and go with the flow, okay?" she encouraged with a small smile. Her eyes caught Junior's, and he seemed to relent. Her smile grew.

"Hey," Q Junior asked, "so when can I see old Itchy?"

"How do you know Commander Icheb?" Andrew asked with obvious contempt in his voice.

"We were good friends on Aunt Kathy's ship." He winked at Miral. "You were just a gleam in your father's eye."

"He teaches at the Academy now," Miral said, ignoring his wink. "Seminars on the Borg."

"A waste of talent," Junior said dismissively. He looked at L'Naan. "Do you think you could take me to him?"

"Can't you just flash there?" she asked.

"It's been a long time. He might not respond so favorably."

"Uh, Q, you know, you might not have aged, but Icheb has. He's almost forty now," Miral explained.

"These mortal bodies! How can you stand the graying and the sagging?"

L'Naan nudged him. "Keep your voice down, remember?"

"Maybe we could get back to your explanation of what happened when I was conceived," Andrew suggested. "I'm still not certain why you wanted me in particular to be born – why Miral and I have to get married."

"Your parents wanted to have a child," Q Junior explained indifferently.

"Yes, but," Miral said with growing impatience, "the Q have never been known to be generous. What's in it for you?"

"It's difficult to explain in mortal terms, but this is how it's supposed to be, and someone had to make it happen."

Miral put a hand on Andrew's arm. "Are you okay?" she asked him softly.

The hand at the end of the arm clenched into a fist. "Other than finding out I'm not supposed to exist? That I'm only alive because a Q created me? Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's not quite true," L'Naan corrected patiently. "You _are_ supposed to exist; that's why Q made it happen. But he didn't create you. Your parents conceived you. Junior just gave them the opportunity by altering the timeline." She looked at Junior. "Did I get that right?"

He appeared amused by her. "Exactly. You have a remarkable capacity for understanding things beyond the scope of your limited mortal existence."

"Thank you," L'Naan said. "I think."

The waitress arrived to deposit four steaming cups in front of them, and they waited for her to move out of earshot before continuing their discussion. Miral and L'Naan took their raktajinos immediately to their lips and drank while Andrew patiently folded his hands in his lap and waited for the temperature of his espresso to drop below tongue-scalding. Q Junior looked between the women and Andrew and decided to follow the former. He raised his cappuccino and sipped loudly, causing a froth of white to cling to his upper lip. His tongue felt an acute pain that trailed down his throat and into his belly. He nearly dropped the cup.

"Argh!" he cried. "What just happened?"

"You have to wait until it's not so hot," Andrew told him with barely concealed smugness. "Otherwise you burn your mouth."

"Did you just feel pain?" Miral asked with surprise.

Q Junior shrugged. "I just wanted to experience what it's like being human."

Miral peered at him, still suspicious but unsure what to do about it.

L'Naan gestured to Junior's napkin, and he hastily wiped his mouth. She nodded her approval as he returned the napkin to his lap. "I still don't understand why you went through the trouble of sending Harry back in time," she continued. "Couldn't you have just snapped and made Andrew exist?"

Junior shook his head. "We've reached the limits of your capacity," he said with disappointment.

L'Naan kept cool. "Well, then, help me stretch beyond my capacity. Explain it to me."

"If Andrew just came into existence, you wouldn't remember growing up with him. Miral had to fall in love with a childhood friend."

"Why?" Miral demanded, but neither her sister nor Q Junior was listening.

"But you could have given her those memories," L'Naan argued to Junior. "Wait a second, if Harry went back in time on stardate…when did you say it was?"

"71246."

"Right, then Miral was already in high school. If you wanted Andrew to be a childhood friend, why did you make us able to remember both lives?"

"Harry Kim had to go back in time," he repeated with visible annoyance.

"You keep saying 'supposed to' and 'had to' as if there was some destiny that was already determined," L'Naan told him. "Are you saying you merely allowed a timeline to play out? Rather than creating it?"

"It's not that simple."

L'Naan stared him down. "So explain, why don't you? Or can't you?" She was mentally circling him, moving in for the kill. "You ate dinner with us."

"So?" he said, coming up slightly short of sounding undaunted by her.

"No," she said, "you _ate_. And just now when you drank hot coffee, you felt pain. And when Miral suggested you spend the night, you didn't even hesitate. You're acting human."

He scoffed. "I'm just trying to get to know you all better. I've never attended one of your primitive mating ceremonies."

L'Naan shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I think everything you've done so far points to one conclusion – "

"Don't be ridiculous," he interrupted, hoping to cut her off.

"That there are limits to Q powers."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth, and there was a brief flash of light. Andrew and Miral found themselves alone at the table.

"Where do you think they went?" she asked.

"I don't know, but was that the Q equivalent of flirting?"

"I think so," she confirmed with a frown. "My dad's going to go Bolian when he finds out."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Space**

"Where are we?" L'Naan Paris breathed in wonder.

"Don't ask inane questions," Q Junior chastised. "It's beneath you."

She silently agreed with him. It was clear where they were. They were somewhere in space, far from any large celestial bodies. Without EVA suits. Unlike her family, who had all gone on space walks as part of their service to Starfleet, L'Naan had never been in open space but had always wanted to. "How?"

Junior rolled his eyes. "Don't make me change my mind about you, L'Naan."

"I didn't know you had any mind about me to be changed."

"L'Naan, the timeline. You were right about that. I'm following a specific series of events that had to be played out."

"Why? Why was Andrew Kim's birth and his marriage to my sister so important to you?"

"Don't tell Andrew, but it's not."

"I knew it!" L'Naan grinned. "So you are either hiding something from me, or you really do care about us mortals." She stared at him for a moment to determine which it was. "You're hiding something. Something else. Something big. Something else about completing the timeline."

"Very good," he praised, as though she were a beloved pet. "Now can you figure out what it is?"

"I don't think you care much about what happens to my family," she hypothesized, "so it must have something to do with the Q Continuum and the fact that you've been acting human all night."

"Right again."

L'Naan shrugged. "You'll have to tell me the rest. That's as much as I can figure out."

Q Junior frowned. "The reason I had to make Harry Kim go back in time to conceive Andrew was so that I would appear here, today, and meet you."

No sooner had the words left his mouth and a flash produced another Starfleet-uniformed Q who resembled a human, much older than Q2. "Tsk, tsk, Junior. Why are you telling this hybrid mortal all of this?"

"It's okay, Q. She understands."

"No! You will return to the Continuum and cease communication with these primitive beings."

"But they're Aunt Kathy's friends."

"Junior!"

"No, Dad! What about –"

But the elder Q cut him off. "The Continuum thinks this experiment of yours is too dangerous," he said with authority. He crossed his arms over his chest, defying his son to continue arguing.

"Excuse me!" L'Naan interrupted. "What are you talking about?"

The two men looked at each other in a silent stand-off for a moment. Then the older Q huffed and waved his hand, and suddenly it all made sense to L'Naan.

"She would have figured it out on her own," Junior said testily. "She just needed time."

"Her species only lives for about a century," his father replied. "It would have taken her at least a millennium to comprehend."

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Kim Family Residence, 2400**

"I'm exhausted," Libby declared, sliding into bed. "I thought being the mother of the groom was going to be taxing, but this…this tops everything." She looked over at Harry, who was sitting up in bed, eyes fixed ahead of him. "Are you okay? You haven't really talked since we left Tom and B'Elanna's."

"I'm just trying to put it all together," he said. "If what Q said is true, then I did this. I made this life for us when I went back in time."

"Yes, but remember what the other life was like? We fought and fought, Harry. We so wanted to have a child." She shivered slightly. "And when we lost the baby…" Her voice trailed off, and she was silent for a moment. "Honey, don't you remember?"

"I remember being in the shuttle, activating the temporal transmitter, entering transwarp, and thinking, 'I can't wait to get back to my Libby and my life.'" He turned to her. "But I didn't. Instead, I came home to a life with a son. The life we were living without Andrew – it stopped seven years ago when I came home from that mission."

"You feel guilty about that, don't you?"

Harry paused for a moment, trying to think of how to put it all into words. "I love Andrew, and I don't want to live without him. But changing the course of history is more responsibility than one person should have."

Libby nodded. "You're right." She pulled the covers up to her chest and settled against her pillows. "But from what I remember of that life, this one is a lot better. I'm happy things got changed."

"Why do you think Q would make me go to so much work to return to my own time?" Harry wondered. "Why did we even conceive Andrew naturally? Why didn't Q just snap and make it all happen?"

Q Junior materialized in bed between them, startling Libby and angering Harry. "Because that would have been too easy," he explained. "That's no fun."

"And watching me break into Starfleet Command was fun?"

Q nodded. "You were pretty resourceful, Harry. You got back to the right time a lot faster than I thought you would."

"Could you go away now, please?" Libby asked politely.

Q Junior looked down at her. "Sorry, Libby. I didn't mean to interrupt." He snapped and disappeared.

"I really hate it when he does that," Harry grumbled.

"He's awfully polite," Libby observed.

"Do not sympathize with him, Libby. You haven't dealt with them the way I have. The Q are duplicitous. They always have another trick up their sleeve, another test. Their amusement comes at the expense of everyone else."

"If you say so," she half-heartedly agreed. "But that Q gave me my son, so I'm rather inclined to like him."

* * *

**Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

"Are you going to tell Starfleet that Q is back?" Chakotay asked as he pulled on his pajamas.

Kathryn brushed her hair a few times, eyeing him in the mirror. _Funny how after all these years I still sneak glances at him_. "No," she said reluctantly. "He seems to be behaving himself for now, and I feel we can trust him."

"Are you serious?" he asked climbing into bed. He pulled back the blankets on her side.

Taking the hint, she set down the brush and crawled in next to him. "I know this Q, Chakotay. He was a loyal friend to Icheb, and he did the right thing in the end. I don't think he's suddenly turned up to screw us all over."

"I love it when you use the vernacular," he said with a droll smile.

"We should talk to Icheb in the morning," she continued, ignoring him. "To warn him that Q is around. I have no doubt he'll try to contact him."

"He was Icheb's first real friend."

Kathryn nodded. "Poor Andrew. I just get the feeling he thinks his whole world has come undone."

"Harry seemed pretty upset, too, didn't he?" Chakotay remarked as he turned off the lights.

"I think Libby and Miral can help them on that front. I just wonder what other tricks Q has up his sleeve."

The lights came back on at that moment, revealing Q Senior sitting cross-legged at the end of their bed. Kathryn groaned and slid down, trying to pull the blanket over her head. Chakotay sat up abruptly, ready to pounce.

"Chuckles," Q said with warmth in his voice. "I guess yours was bigger after all."

Chakotay glanced down at Kathryn, who cringed. The instinctive response when being intruded upon by an omnipotent being was to scream, but Chakotay suspected Q would only enjoy the provocation. "Look, Q, it's been a long time," he said in what he hoped was a patient tone. "What are you doing here now?"

"Oh, I just finished chaperoning the kids and thought I'd pop by for a visit."

"What kids?"

"L'Naan Paris and Q, of course," Q said with a knowing smile. "She's not exactly what I would have picked for him, but she's got real fire. And she's a lot smarter than her parents."

Kathryn finally threw the covers off her face. "What are you talking about, Q?" she demanded.

"Kathy." He took her hand and kissed it, and Chakotay noticed the faint blush on her cheeks as she tried to pretend she was thoroughly annoyed with Q's affections.

"Junior's become infatuated with Tommy boy's daughter," Q explained. "I'm not sure it's a good idea, but then part of me just wants to watch it all explode in front of Junior. Someday you'll have to get rid of Chuckles here, Kathy, so you and I can concentrate on our own infatuation. We could run off to the Continuum together. It's lovely in the springtime."

"Get out!" Chakotay shouted, finally at his wit's end.

Q frowned at him for a moment and then snapped, disappearing from their room.

"Of all the self-righteous, meddlesome –" she began.

"Save it," Chakotay said curtly. "You like it when he flirts with you."

Janeway turned to face him. "I do not."

"Yes, you do," he insisted. "You liked it twenty-five years ago, and you like it today. I've read about Picard's encounters with Q. You can't tell me you have the same relationship with him."

She huffed slightly for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. "He is a mere flatterer, Chakotay. You don't think I would actually fall for him, do you?" He didn't say anything but regarded her carefully. "Oh, come on, Chakotay, you're not jealous? You're the only person I've had my eye on for a long time. Do you really think Q is going to magically sweep me off my feet now?"

"I suppose not," he said, only partially mollified.

"Besides, it sounds like that particular adventure is L'Naan's, not mine. I imagine Tom is going to have a hard time sleeping tonight when he hears about that."

"B'Elanna's not going to take it very well either," he said, reaching over to turn off the lights again. "Still, it's kind of nice to let someone else have the adventures for once, isn't it?"

He could tell Kathryn was grinning even though their bedroom was dark. "We may be getting old, Chakotay," she rebuked, "but I think we still have a few adventures left in us."

Kathryn Janeway, he should have known, may have lived on a farm, but she didn't want to be put out to pasture before her time.

* * *

**San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence**

"L'Naan," her mother said with surprise as she stacked dirty dinner plates to sterilize. "What are you doing home so soon? Where are Andrew and Miral?"

L'Naan bit her bottom lip as she tried to think of what to say. She opted for the truth. "Q flashed me here," she explained, gauging her mother's reaction carefully as she leaned on the kitchen counter in what she hoped was a casual pose. "I think Miral and Andrew are still at the café on the wharf."

"Did you have fun with him?" B'Elanna asked in a tone of voice that clearly said she expected the answer to be no.

L'Naan hemmed and hawed for a moment, a response that did not go unnoticed by her mother. Then she straightened and said, "Actually, um, Mom, I need to tell you and Dad something, but, um, I think you're going to think I'm crazy."

Preparing for the worst, B'Elanna set everything down on the kitchen counter and held on to it for support. "Are you going to tell me you're involved with Q somehow, too?"

Fortunately for L'Naan, Tom entered the kitchen at that moment, so she could break the news in one fell swoop. She looked over at her dad and tried her best, flattering smile, feeling it fall short in the muscles of her cheeks. She was certain that he, like B'Elanna, could sense bad news on the horizon.

A tense moment passed. Finally, L'Naan blurted, "Q Junior asked me to join the Continuum."

Neither Tom nor B'Elanna said anything for a moment. Gradually, B'Elanna let go of the counter and spun around to face her husband, who still wore an expression of utter shock on his frozen face. L'Naan wondered for a moment if he had somehow been placed in stasis.

Then both parents sprang to life.

"Are you sure they're not playing a trick on you, L'Naan?" B'Elanna asked. "The Q are notorious."

"No, Mom," L'Naan insisted. "They gave me omniscience – well, as much omniscience as they have." She sat down on the nearest chair and let her head fall backward. "Which, it turns out, isn't actually _omni_."

"And you said you weren't trying to kill me," Tom reminded her wryly. He began pacing the room, with his thumb and forefinger placed contemplatively at his lip.

B'Elanna shook her head. "This doesn't make sense. It's ridiculous."

L'Naan lifted her head upright. "Of course it doesn't make sense to you, Mom. You're a limited mortal. It's not that hard to grasp." As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

"Do not call your mother a limited mortal," Tom ordered in the harsh tone he frequently used on Miral but that L'Naan had only heard aimed at her a few select times in her life.

"If it's so simple to grasp, help me understand," B'Elanna challenged.

L'Naan sighed. "The Q aren't really as omnipotent as we believed. There are certain things which must happen to protect the nature of existence as we know it – even the existence of the Q Continuum. Andrew and Miral's marriage, as small as it may seem in the scope of the universe, is one of those events because it led to me meeting Junior. And to me being introduced to the Continuum."

"For a race of omnipotent beings, they sure seem to need us a lot," Tom pointed out. "First we get a request for asylum by a Q with a death wish, then they ask Admiral Janeway to reproduce with them, and now they need you to 'protect the nature of existence as we know it'?" He sat down heavily. "If they're so powerful, L'Naan, how can a teenager change their destiny?"

"You can't understand, Dad," she said quietly. "Those events on Voyager – they're all connected to today."

"Are you saying this is all Admiral Janeway's fault somehow?" B'Elanna asked. She felt a strong sense of loyalty to the admiral, certainly, but she needed a scapegoat for the way her life had unraveled in the past few hours, and she'd take whomever she could get.

"No," L'Naan said, pursing her lips. "Okay, Quinn? The Q who wanted to die? He did, right? Q Senior helped him die because he came to believe that mortality was the only thing left for the Q to explore."

"How do you know that?" Tom wanted to know.

She sighed with exhaustion. "Because Q flashed it all into my brain, Dad."

B'Elanna scowled slightly at Tom as she said, "L'Naan, keep going."

"The idea of mortality caused a civil war to break out in the Continuum, and Q Junior was born to stop it and to change the nature of Q existence."

"I'm still following," her mother confirmed.

"By the way, you thought Dad looked really handsome in his civil war uniform, but you two weren't dating yet." For good measure she added, "Although you both wanted to but were too stubborn to say anything to each other."

Tom didn't bother to ask her how she knew that; he was now certain she'd acquired some kind of omniscience in the two hours since she'd left to get coffee.

"Anyway," L'Naan continued, knowing they were hooked, "to keep the Continuum going, Q Junior needs help. And right now he's the only one of his kind."

"So he wants you to…?" Tom asked. If Miral was too young to get married in his mind, L'Naan was certainly too young to go off procreating with a race of immortals.

"It's difficult to explain in your terms."

The use of the word 'your' did not go unnoticed. "They've stood by while thousands of species suffered and died, sometimes at their hands," B'Elanna pointed out. "Why should you help them?"

"And more importantly," Tom added, "_how_ can you help them? If they're so powerful?"

L'Naan nodded sagely, understanding their concerns. "All I can say is that it's all connected – their existence, our existence, the makeup of the universe as we know it."

"If you ran off to found some new generation of Q, would we ever see you again?" B'Elanna heard herself asking. Then she laughed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever said. I can't believe we're even talking about this."

"We're finished," Tom pronounced. "L'Naan, go to your room."

"You can't order her to her room, Tom," B'Elanna reminded him in a fatigued voice. "She's eighteen. Besides, if she really is destined to save life as we know it, it's not her fault."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence, 2400**

L'Naan Paris pulled her pajamas on and crawled onto her bed. Before she got under the covers, however, she sighed and called, "Junior? Can I talk to you?"

Q2 materialized immediately. "You called?"

"You know the weird part? I'm getting used to that," she said, snapping in imitation of him. "Listen, we need to give you a better name. I can't keep calling you 'Q Junior.'"

He sat down next to her. "A name?"

"Yes, 'Junior' is a little…"

"It's not very adult. Or sexy."

"Right," L'Naan said, appreciating his understanding of human values. "You know, you're not really anything like what I've learned about the Q."

Junior shrugged. "So what name do you think suits me?"

L'Naan studied him carefully. "Are you sure you want me to name you? A name is…special. It's your identity."

"Who named you?"

"My parents."

"Why did they choose 'L'Naan'?"

"It was my great-grandmother's name," she explained. "And Miral is named after our grandmother. One of our traditions is to name children after their ancestors."

Charlie slid onto the bed, and L'Naan shifted over to make room for him. "What do you like so much about being human and Klingon?" he asked, and she recognized that his tone was for once not condescending but sincere. "Your people die, get sick, fight wars –"

"Yes, that's true," she agreed. "And we judge each other based on stereotypes, and we sometimes treat each other terribly."

"That's how you describe your precious Federation?"

"The Federation isn't perfect, but then neither are we. But it's a testament to who we aspire to be and to how far we've come. It's a really beautiful concept, even if we haven't fully mastered it yet."

To his credit, Q Junior did not mock her but listened earnestly. "I wish I believed in the Continuum as much as you believe in the Federation."

L'Naan looked at him for a moment, trying to absorb everything she'd learned about him over the course of several hours. He was, she realized, more emotionally complex than her parents gave him credit for. "Where did you come from just now? Were you at Admiral Janeway's house?"

Q shook his head. "I haven't gone there yet."

"Q, it's three in the morning. She and Chakotay probably gave up waiting for you and went to sleep already."

He frowned slightly. "So what should I do?"

L'Naan smiled slightly. "You can stay with me," she offered. _But only if you tell me why you can't go back to the Continuum tonight. _"Now that I've taught you how to drink coffee after dinner, I can teach you how eat breakfast in the morning."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "You can teach me everything you like about being Klingon and human."

"Well, it all starts with a name. So, I was named for my ancestors. My friend Lenaris was named after her mother's favorite literary character. And my friend Rona was named that because no one in her family has ever had that name before."

Q Junior thought for a second. "All the Q are called Q."

"How do you tell each other apart?" she wanted to know. When he didn't answer, she realized the stupidity of her question. _They're omniscient, petaQ._

"You might as well choose my name."

"In that case, I think you'd make a good Charlie."

"Charlie?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said with a nod and a satisfied smile. "Charlie."

"All right, what did you call me to talk about?"

L'Naan took a deep breath, and her eyes dropped to her bedspread. "Charlie, are we friends?"

"I guess so."

"And you'll be honest with me?"

"Yes."

"Is this a trick?" she asked, daring to look him in the eye. "A test of some sort? Because if it is, I'd like to know right now before I get my feelings hurt."

Junior – Charlie – smiled. "You already know the answer to that question."

"That's what I thought," L'Naan said with a knowing nod.

"Q will probably test you in some way before he presents you to the Continuum," Charlie warned. "The Continuum like tests. But joining us – that's real."

"And you – your hunger, your pain. Your need to spend the night with us. Is that real?"

Charlie nodded again. "It's real, all right. The Continuum sent me here. They said that until I could save them like I'm supposed to, I'm no better than a human."

_Ah, so that's why you're staying here for the night._

He yawned. "What was that?"

"Apparently, they made you require sleep," she explained, hopping off the bed. She went to the closet and retrieved an additional pillow and blanket. "Why didn't they take away the rest of your powers? I mean, can't you just snap and stop being tired?" Charlie snapped in her direction, and L'Naan answered her own question. "It's not a punishment. It's a disease."

"You have to promise you won't say anything to anyone – especially Aunt Kathy." He crossed his arms defiantly and tried to glower at her. "If you do, I'll turn you into a targ."

"No, you won't," she rightly predicted as she spread the blanket on the floor and placed the pillow at one end. "You need me, or you wouldn't be telling me all this." She pointed to the makeshift bed. "You sleep there."

As she stood up again, Charlie grabbed onto her shoulders firmly. "L'Naan," he began seriously, "it's not easy for the Q to need anyone – especially an overgrown primate."

"I'm part Klingon, too," she reminded him defiantly.

"That's even worse," he told her. "Look, this is scary. The Q – we don't handle uncertainly well. We don't even know what uncertainty is. We're supposed to be omnipotent, after all."

"All right," she assured him, shrugging out of his grasp. "Just stay calm. I'm not going to tell anyone. How many have started losing their immortality?"

"Only a few so far. I saw a Q get old. It was frightening."

L'Naan peered at him. "What do you look like in your native forms?"

"L'Naan, focus."

"Right. How long has the disease been affecting you?"

Charlie knelt down on the blanket on the floor as he explained, "It's been about four millennia, or twenty years in your terms, but it started slowly. Now it's getting worse really fast." He regarded the pillow curiously, as if trying to figure out how to position himself around it.

"Uh, Charlie," she asked as she watched him with amusement, "how old are you?"

"_Much_ older than you," he answered simply, trying to place his head comfortably on the fluffy pillow.

L'Naan crawled back into her bed and underneath the covers. "Then why'd you pick the form of a twenty-year-old?"

Finally finding a comfortable position, Charlie stretched out and smirked. "Because you're attracted to men who aren't that much taller than you and who have brown hair."

L'Naan flipped onto her side to look down at him, surprised by his answer. "You wanted me to find you attractive?" she asked for clarification. "Charlie, are _you_ attracted to _me_?"

"The Q –"

"Don't tell me the Q don't experience attraction," she interrupted. "Q appeared in Admiral Janeway's quarters way too many times for that not to be true."

"Yes, I suppose in your limited terms I'm attracted to you," he admitted. "But don't expect any Klingon mating rituals. I've seen what goes on in the caves of No'Mat."

L'Naan resisted the urge to smile. "For all our exploration and philosophy, our development and evolution, our understanding of the universe just comes down to sexuality?"

"I'm not here just because of sexuality," he reminded her, and she nodded, already understanding that there was some deeper reason for why he'd picked her that was waiting to be revealed. "Let me show you something."

Charlie flashed them into a gray and dimly lit room, with minimal décor and functional furniture. On a far wall was a _bat'leth_, mounted for display rather than use. If L'Naan had any doubts as to their whereabouts, they were cast aside when her eyes fell upon the antique television set in the corner.

"Are we on the Enterprise? In my family's quarters?"

"Yes."

L'Naan walked around, taking it all in. Though she'd been on the Enterprise as a passenger since her family had moved back to Earth, she hadn't been in these quarters – her first home – in years. "Why?"

"I thought you'd like to see when it all began."

"The day you sent Harry back in time? Why aren't we on Earth then?"

She quieted as the doors opened, admitting her parents. L'Naan ducked behind a bulkhead and pulled Charlie with her. Her eyes widened: her mother was very pregnant.

"Can you even imagine, Tom? Sometimes you are so inconsiderate!"

"B'Elanna, I was just trying to have fun. In case you haven't noticed, you're going to give birth any day now, and 'fun' will be a concept completely lost on us for a while."

"I don't even know where to start! Yes, I do! Don't call me out of engineering ever again!"

"I checked with Powell! You weren't doing anything important."

"Powell does not make my schedule! And I do not appreciate you talking to him before me! Who are you married to, anyway?"

They continued arguing, but L'Naan wasn't listening. She turned to Charlie with confusion in her eyes. If her mother was pregnant on the Enterprise, it was with her. Three years after Andrew and Miral were born. Why had he taken them to this day then? _Be patient_, his eyes seemed to be telling her. She turned back to her much younger parents, feeling slightly guilty at violating their privacy.

"Sickbay to Torres and Paris."

B'Elanna stopped mid-sentence. "Torres here. Go ahead."

"Commander, you'd better report to sickbay. It's Miral."

Before Charlie flashed them out of the quarters, L'Naan caught sight of the instant reconciliation her parents made as their eyes locked, concern for their daughter immediately ending any argument they might have been in the midst of.

In sickbay L'Naan and Charlie stood on one side of a biobed that held an unconscious toddler. Miral's hair was a surprise to L'Naan, who'd only known her sister to have long, lustrous slightly wavy human hair that she worked tirelessly to maintain. Apparently, in her younger days, she wore it chin-length, as their mother used to. Miral's clothing, too, was a mild source of amusement. She was wearing a crimson dress and leggings, but adult Miral loathed anything red, finding the color too Klingon and flamboyant, and she prided herself on being fashion-forward.

_I wonder what she was like when she was little. And when did she stop being a miniature version of Mom?  
_

L'Naan shook herself back into focus. After all, they were here for some greater purpose, and pondering fashion trends over the last twenty years was not likely to be it. She watched as the Enterprise's Dr. Enin scanned Miral and explained the situation to her parents. Tom wrapped his arms around B'Elanna from behind, holding onto her as much for his own strength as for hers.

L'Naan turned to Charlie. She wanted to ask what was going on, why she had never heard a story about Miral being seriously injured when she was little, and why he had taken her to this particular moment in the past.

_Can they hear us or see us?_ she wondered.

"No, they can't," Charlie answered aloud. "You want to know why this moment is important?" He nodded back to Tom and B'Elanna.

Tom leaned his chin on B'Elanna's shoulder as he said quietly in her ear, "She's going to be fine. They'll treat her, and she'll regain consciousness."

B'Elanna was staring down at the immobile child as she rubbed her swollen belly. "I hope this one is invincible. Immortal."

L'Naan watched as a Q appeared – Q Senior – and snapped in front of Miral's face. The beeping of the biosigns monitor became slower and more even, and Miral's eyes slowly opened. Q, unnoticed by the Enterprise crew, disappeared.

Charlie turned back to L'Naan with a satisfied look on his face. Then he snapped his fingers again.

* * *

**Space**

"So my mom made a stray comment while my sister was unconscious, and that means I'm supposed to save the universe?" L'Naan questioned dubiously. "Come on, Charlie, your explanations keep getting more and more unbelievable."

"I didn't say that was the reason," he pointed out. He let his right hand drift slowly upward in the vacuum of space and watched its lazy moment. "I just wanted you to know that she once approved of the idea."

"I wasn't even born yet!" L'Naan watched as a comet moved past them, leaving a trail of space dust behind it. "Is that on a collision course?"

"Yes, but the planet it's going to collide with is uninhabited," he assured her. "Do you want to stay and watch?"

"How long until it hits?" she asked, feeling her curiosity get the better of her.

"Five hundred years."

"I think I'll pass." She flipped in a somersault, enjoying the freedom of the unencumbered space walk. "I like it out here. It's so peaceful."

"Just one of the advantages of being a Q. You can come here whenever you want."

"Charlie, did your dad save Miral so she'd live to marry Andrew? In exchange for my immortality?"

"L'Naan, you're going to make Q and the others in the Continuum think you're not worthy of joining if you keep asking for clarifications."

"If I'm destined to save the Continuum, how can I be unworthy, clarifications or not?" Charlie didn't have an answer, and L'Naan turned away from him, a smug smile across her lips. "Do you like taking human form?"

"It's limiting and a little disgusting – the breathing, the secretions – but it can be fun," he admitted. "I don't think you'd spend as much time talking to me if I looked like a Terellian seapod."

"Probably not," she let herself drift closer to him and caught his forearms, bracing herself not far from his body. "And I definitely wouldn't do this." She leaned forward and kissed him very softly on the lips.

As she pulled her head slightly back, they looked at each other, uncertain whose understanding of reality had changed more – hers or his.

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Starfleet Academy, Dormitory Room of Ensign Andrew Kim**

With only a few days until he was due to report to his first assignment, Andrew was still sleeping in his dorm room. His personal items were half-packed in storage containers, cluttering the usually immaculate space. He tried not to think about the chaos while he washed his face, preparing for bed. As he stepped out of the bathroom, L'Naan Paris

appeared in the middle of the room. He jumped in surprise when he saw her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, vaguely relieved he was fully covered in his pajamas.

"Where's Miral?"

"She went to her room to get her hairbrush. Did Q send you here? We wondered what happened to you." L'Naan nodded. "Where is he? Don't tell me he's really going to sleep at the admiral's house?"

L'Naan shook her head. "He's sleeping in my room. It was too late for him to go to the admiral and Chakotay's." She bit her lip slightly, and Andrew realized her ordinarily calm demeanor had been shattered. She looked young – a lot younger than him suddenly, and a lot more fragile.

"Sit down," he said with concern, leading her to his bed. "What's going on? Where did you and Q go?"

"Space," she answered. She looked at him intently. "Drew, I'm sure you're disconcerted by what you found out tonight. Are you going to be okay?"

_Sweet of you to worry about me, kid._ He nodded. "I still don't understand, but I'm just trying to focus on the positives. I just graduated, I have a great post working under my dad, and I'm getting married." He couldn't help but smile as he enumerated. "So what if my existence is a quirk of temporal mechanics? It doesn't sound as though I have much to complain about, does it?"

L'Naan shook her head, sharing his smile. "No, it doesn't."

"And you?" he asked more seriously, taking one of her hands in his own. "You look pretty upset."

"I found out why you and Miral have to get married."

"The _kuvah'magh_ and the child who isn't supposed to exist?"

"It was so I could meet Q," she said quietly.

"What does he want from you?"

Big brown eyes looked up at him. "He wants me to help him save his race."

Andrew chuckled slightly. "Another savior? First Miral, now you?"

"Actually," L'Naan explained, "he was supposed to be the savior of the Q himself – that's why he was born. Do you know he's the only Q ever born? The others have just always…been."

"So why does he need you if he's supposed to save them?"

"He's not doing very well at it," she admitted. "The Q are losing their omnipotence." When she saw him raise his eyebrows, she quickly added, "You can't tell anyone."

"L'Naan –"

"Andrew, promise me. I told him he could trust me. I'm telling you as my friend, not as a Starfleet officer, because I need your help making sense of it."

"But this is a huge tactical advantage, not to mention worthy of research," he said. "This could change everything we understand about the universe."

"That's why Charlie needs my help."

"Who's Charlie?"

"Q," she explained. "He needs to me to infuse new life into the Continuum."

"He wants you to mate with him?" Andrew let out a breath. "L'Naan, I don't know. I mean, maybe the Q are supposed to go extinct? Or maybe you should take the problem to the Federation Council or at least Starfleet Command? No offense, kid, but this sounds way out of your league."

Her voice was a mere whisper. "Charlie says it's the reason I was born."

"And you liked hearing that, didn't you?" L'Naan bit her lip and nodded, her eyes lowered. Andrew knew she was embarrassed to have her immodesty exposed, but he decided to press further. "You like him, don't you?"

L'Naan's bite on her bottom lip increased. "I guess that's the part that scares me the most. I kissed him."

"You're kidding me! L'Naan, you have the worst taste!"

"I do not!" she protested, yanking her hand away from his.

"Jeremy Powell? What's his name from your school? That Vulcan? And a Q?" He shook his head. "None of them is even remotely attractive. Or good enough for you."

"Stop being protective of me, Andrew."

"Somebody has to," he replied.

"Why is that your job?" she challenged, looking him directly in the eye.

"Because," he told her, returning the gaze, "I love you."

L'Naan's eyes widened. "You do?"

"Of course I do," he reiterated, taking her hand again. "You're like my little sister. And I consider you one of my closest friends."

"Really?"

"Really."

L'Naan threw her arms around his neck, embracing him tightly. After a moment, Andrew put his arms around her. They sat like that for a moment, hugging, until Miral walked into the room and raised her eyebrows at them.

"Little sister, hands off," she declared, tapping her hairbrush threateningly against her palm. "Besides, it looked to me like you nabbed your own boyfriend tonight."

Andrew looked up at his fiancée, smiling at her over L'Naan's shoulder. Miral's eyes narrowed even further. _Jealous? Really?_ The thought was so absurd it made him fall in love with her all over again. He meant what he'd said to L'Naan. He adored her, respected her, _liked_ her – not just because she was Miral's sister or because they'd grown up together (at least, as he remembered it). He liked her because she was fun and smart and great to talk to. But she was a kid. Nothing remotely sexual about her, in his mind. The woman currently staring them down, on the other hand – she was all heat. Gorgeous body, gorgeous temperament. _Damn, I still can't believe she wants __me__._

"Sit down, Miral," he urged, pulling away from L'Naan but keeping hold of one of her hands to show her his emotional support. "You need to hear what L'Naan found out tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: McKinley Station, Orbiting Earth, 2400**

"You never told me how you got permission to come up here in the first place," Miral Paris said as she and Andrew Kim headed down the corridor toward the airlock that led to the USS Galileo.

"I have some pull with my commanding officer," Andrew joked. "Dad thought I'd want to help you get settled in your new quarters."

The first series of doors to the airlock rolled open, and they stepped inside. When the second series of doors opened to reveal deck four of the Galileo, Miral drew in a breath. The ship was everything she had hoped it would be: gleaming and spacious and just waiting for her to come aboard.

"My quarters are this way," she said, leading Andrew down another corridor.

They both stopped abruptly when they reached her quarters. Her name had already been put on the door, and Miral fingered it lightly, feeling proud of herself and honored to be joining the vessel at the same time.

"Ensign Miral Paris," Andrew read aloud. "It has a nice ring to it."

Miral smiled. "Computer, open door, authorization Ensign Miral Paris," she instructed, eyes fixed on Andrew.

"Enter access code."

Miral took Andrew's hand and guided his forefinger across a sequence of four numbers. It was the same sequence that opened the Kims' front door, the same sequence that Andrew's mother used for everything that required a security code.

"Confirm access code."

Andrew keyed the four-digit sequence again.

"Access code confirmed." The doors hissed open.

As they stepped inside, Andrew asked, "Why did you use that code?"

Miral shrugged as she walked about the small interior cabin, taking it in. "It's your family code, isn't it? And I'm your family now. Besides, it's easy to remember. And if you ever visit, it'll be easy for you to remember, too." She set her duffel bag down on the brand new Starfleet-issue sofa. "I'm so lucky this ship doesn't have shared quarters."

"No kidding. Olnar sent me a message yesterday complaining that his cabinmate's hygiene leaves a lot to be desired."

"Come sit with me." Andrew joined her on the brand-new Starfleet-issue gray sofa, and she brought his hands into her lap. "I'm worried about my sister," she admitted. "I don't want to pull out of spacedock until I know she's going to be okay." Miral sighed. "What do you honestly think about Q telling her she has to help save the Continuum?"

"Well, philosophically, it raises a lot of questions."

"What do you mean?"

"Q said that my existence – my entire reason for being born – was to marry you. In some ways, that makes me question every other aspect of my life. Is it necessarily important that I serve in Starfleet? Is it important for me to even continue living after our wedding? Once that chain of events is completed, does anything else matter?"

"I don't think that's a productive line of thinking, honey."

"I don't feel sorry for myself," Andrew clarified. "I'm just trying to think critically about the situation."

"Well, couldn't all of that be true for any of our existences? If I was really intended to be the _kuvah'magh_, then why grow up? Didn't I serve my purpose just by being born?"

"You were chosen by the Klingon gods, and L'Naan and I were chosen by the Q."

Miral cocked her head to one side. "If you believe that stuff."

"You don't?"

"Klingon mythology is just that – mythology."

"There's no mythology surrounding the Q," Andrew pointed out. "Only truth."

"Then I guess," Miral said, pursing her lips, "your purpose is more important than mine."

"That's not what I meant." He turned to look at her, leaning close. "I meant that it makes our wedding really special."

"You are positively maudlin sometimes," she said, but she felt a smile spreading across her face, and she kissed him lightly. "God, Drew, when we were little, did you ever imagine we would end up getting married?"

Andrew gave a laugh. "When you first moved back to Earth, I thought you were disgusting, and I distinctly remember thinking of you as one of the boys when we were in middle school."

"Oh," Miral teased good-naturedly, "was that why you kissed Imani? She was one of the girls?"

Andrew wasn't certain how to respond. "I – I – she kissed me! She was very…attentive."

Miral's eyebrow arched. "And what about me? Did I just abandon you, my best friend, because you'd found some other girl?"

"Well, no. You were attentive, too. Just not…demonstrative."

"Uh huh." Miral rose from the sofa and opened her duffel bag, enjoying watching him squirm. She began to transfer her clothing from the bag to the dresser with her back to him.

"Oh, come on, Miral, that was a long time ago," he implored, mistaking her silence for anger. "It's not as though you weren't ever involved with other people." He followed her to the dresser and pulled her close, and she fell easily into his arms. "You know what my dad said a few weeks ago? He told me he was glad he and my mom were separated for so many years because they needed a chance to explore their possibilities before they decided they were right for each other."

"Do you think that was intended as a warning for us?"

Andrew tightened his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. "If it's fated, there's not much else we can do, is there?"

Miral looked into his eyes with a knowing smile. "To be clear, you're marrying me because…?"

Andrew smiled back. "Because I have to. Ow!" he gasped as her fist playfully struck his shoulder.

She escaped his grasp and began to unpack again. "We're supposed to be figuring out what to do to help my sister," she reminded him.

"Right. She's going to talk to Chakotay and the admiral today. I thought maybe you could see what kind of research Starfleet has on the Q as a species. I tried accessing the general library computer at work, but there's not much information available. Maybe the xenobiology lab will have more."

"I don't have access to the Galileo's systems yet," she reminded him. "I guess I could see if I can still get into my old work station at the Academy lab."

"I told L'Naan we'd meet at my parents' house tomorrow at 1300 to compare notes." Miral nodded. "Okay, then," Andrew started, making a slight motion toward the door.

Miral grabbed his hand to stop him. "Just because we're finished talking doesn't mean you have to go," she reminded him in a deep voice. "Private quarters, remember?"

Andrew grinned. "Private quarters. We should break them in."

They kissed for a moment, and then Miral said gently, "But you have to help me unpack first."

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Starfleet Headquarters, Office of Admiral Kathryn Janeway**

"Guess who's back," Admiral Janeway said, her lips set in a thin line. "An old friend."

Commander Icheb's eyes widened as he cottoned on. "Q?"

Janeway nodded, and it was apparent from the way her jaw was set that she was not amused. "At first he actually had me fooled into believing he just wanted to learn more about us," she confessed, half-nodding to the chair in front of her desk. "It turns out he came to recruit L'Naan Paris."

"Recruit her?" Icheb echoed as he sat. "For what?"

Janeway remained standing behind her desk, hands on hips. "To join the Continuum."

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know, Icheb," she said, rubbing her temple. "Something's not right about this. I can smell it. There's more to this story than he's telling us."

Icheb didn't have to ask why he'd been summoned to her office. He'd come of age under her command, and he knew how things worked among her people: if one of them had a problem, all of them were expected to work together to help solve it. Although he didn't often see the daughter of his former shipmates, L'Naan was part of the Voyager family – just as he was. "What are we going to do about it?"

Softening slightly, Janeway finally sat down. "He's been asking about you. I think he still considers you his friend. Maybe he'll tell you more than he's told the rest of us. If he comes to see you, try to find out as much as you can about what's really going on."

Icheb nodded. "Of course."

* * *

**Jupiter Station, Holodeck, St. Andrew's, Fourth Hole**

Tom Paris grimaced as his putt angled to the left, missing the hole and picking up enough speed to roll ten centimeters further from it. He resisted the urge to curse. "Your turn, Reg."

"Finish putting," Barclay suggested.

"It's fine," Tom said gruffly.

Barclay positioned himself over his ball and tapped it gently with his putter to execute a perfect shot. He took two steps toward the hole and, using his putter to balance, he leaned down to retrieve the ball from the cup in one fluid movement. "Just a lucky shot. Your turn, Harry."

Harry Kim squatted down on the green to line up his putt. Then he stood over the ball, shuffling his feet slightly to find the right stance. He knocked the ball gracefully, but it came to a stop four centimeters short of the hole. Unlike Tom, Harry didn't hold back on the swearing. "Damn it! That happens to me every time!"

The Doctor patted Harry's shoulder gently. "Maybe we should try a different program. This doesn't seem to have the restorative effect I'd hoped."

Harry rammed his putter back into his golf bag and took a deep sigh. "Doctor, I appreciate your concern. But you don't need to worry about me. So I conceived a kid in an alternate timeline by having sex with my wife sixteen years in the past. It's not a big deal."

Tom cocked his head as he looked at Harry.

"Well, okay, it _is_ a big deal," Harry conceded. "But Libby has made me realize that whatever the circumstances were surrounding Andrew's birth, at least we have him, and he's healthy and he just graduated, and that's all that matters."

The Doctor smiled. "I always knew Libby was a sensible woman."

Barclay carefully extracted the putter from Tom's hand and put it away for him. "How are you doing, Tom?"

He let out a breath. "I've got one daughter about to ship out, and a Q having sleepovers at my house. I don't know what he wants from L'Naan, but I don't buy this 'save the Continuum' plot for a second."

"When does Miral leave?" the Doctor wanted to know.

"The day after tomorrow," Tom answered. "She's hoping she'll get to say goodbye to you in person." The Doctor nodded. "L'Naan's always been the levelheaded one," he continued, more to himself than the others. "How could she possibly fall for Q's story?"

Reg, the Doctor, and Harry exchanged a concerned look.

"Maybe the Doctor's right. Maybe golfing isn't what you need right now," Harry suggested. "We should try a martial arts program."

Tom half-heartedly smiled at his buddy. "I think I pummeled you enough when Miral and Andrew got engaged."

"I didn't mean me," Harry corrected. "I meant the Doctor."

Barclay grinned as the Doctor took offense. "Oh, come on, Doctor, you're not programmed to feel pain."

"And that's supposed to make it all right?"

Tom hoisted his golf bag over his shoulder and clapped the Doctor on the back. "What we ought to do is skip directly to the nineteenth hole."

"Nineteenth?" Barclay asked.

"Yeah," Harry explained, "the bar."

* * *

**Earth, Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

While Andrew and Miral were moving the latter into her new quarters on the Galileo, L'Naan Paris was completing her part of their research project. She'd gone to visit the admiral and Chakotay to interrogate them on their memories of Voyager's Q encounters and, she hoped, to gain a little philosophical perspective along the way.

The three sat on the back porch of the farmhouse, shielded by the roof above from them the heavy rainstorm that was rolling across the Indiana fields. As L'Naan rocked back and forth in an old wooden chair, she sipped a glass of the admiral's homemade lemonade. She had made twenty minutes of small talk with the admiral and Chakotay, and she was finally ready to ask the real questions she wanted answered.

"Do you still believe in the sky spirits, even though you met those aliens?"

"That's a pretty heavy question," Chakotay said from the seat next to her. He took a drink of lemonade, and L'Naan caught him exchanging a look with Janeway. "What's on your mind?"

"Everything you ever taught me about gods of different cultures," she began. "I've been thinking a lot about what gods are and why people believe in them. Is believing in a god really any different than believing in the unseen laws of physics?"

"What do you think?" Janeway asked her gently.

"Let's say I construct an android next year at the Daystrom Institute. Will I be its mother or its god – or both?"

"I gather this has something to do with Q," Chakotay surmised.

L'Naan nodded as a clap of thunder crashed over them. "We thought the Q could control the fate of the universe, but then they asked _you_ for help. How does that make sense? How can something omnipotent need help from anyone?"

Janeway poured more lemonade into each of their glasses and set the glass pitcher down heavily. "I'd prefer to think of it as one species helping another – just like Vulcans and humans working in cooperation – rather than _Götterdammerung_."

"Twilight of the gods," L'Naan echoed quietly as she took a pensive sip of her drink. What she hadn't told the admiral was that it _was_ the Q's twilight. There was a lot more at stake than interspecies cooperation. But she had made a promise to Charlie not to reveal that to anyone, and she'd already broken it once, to Andrew. She was determined not to do that again.

"Have you talked to your mother about her Klingon spirituality yet?" Chakotay asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Chakotay," she reminded him, "I grew up talking about Klingon spirituality. Between her and you, I'm probably the most spiritually attuned person on Earth."

"Okay, okay," he said, backing down.

"Maybe you should have her meet her animal guide," Janeway suggested. She saw L'Naan's perplexed expression and explained, "Sometimes your animal guide has the answers you can't find from any person."

* * *

**Paris, Place de la Concorde, Office of the Federation Liaison to the Klingon Empire**

It was a slow day in the office. Anel, the secretary, was on vacation in Chile, and there were no scheduled meetings. B'Elanna Torres decided to take a break. She couldn't concentrate anyway.

When L'Naan had first presented the idea of joining the Q Continuum to her, B'Elanna's instinct was to forbid her daughter. She'd managed to corral that instinct, however, when she remembered the very serious rift she'd experienced with her own mother when she was L'Naan's age – a rift caused by their disagreeing views on how B'Elanna should begin her adult life.

She still didn't like the idea of L'Naan spending time with Q2, and she felt without a doubt that he was setting her up for some kind of disappointment. But one thing she and Tom had promised themselves was that they would reserve judgment and let their daughters make their own mistakes; it was an important part of coming of age. And, in Klingon terms, L'Naan had come of age when she'd undergone the Rite of Ascension. In Federation terms, she was eighteen. How she wanted to spend her life was now technically her own choice.

Still B'Elanna knew L'Naan was nowhere near ready to brave the world completely on her own, and she felt compelled to give her child the best advice she could. The only problem was that she wasn't sure what that advice was. There was, though, one person in the galaxy who had always been able to cheer her up in some of the worst moments of her life: when she struggled with her Klingon identity, when she was severely depressed, when she contemplated ending her relationship with Tom, when she lost her memories of their marriage.

Working as the Federation liaison the Klingon Empire had is perks. For one thing, she was able to access the joint Federation-Klingon communications network that spanned the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. It boosted the signal of the MIDAS Array to an asteroid colony nestled in the Delta Quadrant, where the Federation's "ambassador" sat on the receiving end.

The sight of his mottled yellow face, flanked with gray whiskers, made her smile. "Neelix."

"B'Elanna Torres."

"How are you?"

"Oh, I can't complain," he said happily. "We've just negotiated a peace treaty with a group of resettled Lokirrim. Dexa is turning out to be an artful negotiator. I never would have guessed. She used to be so hotheaded. I suppose we can't always predict what kind of people will turn out to be the best diplomats."

B'Elanna smiled wryly, knowing the comment was equally aimed at her. "Have you heard anything from the Klingon colony lately?"

Neelix shook his head. "They passed on a message to be sent to the High Council a few weeks ago, and we forwarded it along, but nothing since then." Neelix peered at the screen intently. "Was that why you contacted me, B'Elanna?"

"Actually, I was hoping for some advice." She paused, feeling slightly silly now that their conversation had actually begun. "It's about L'Naan."

"I still haven't spoken in person with her since we established this com link," Neelix reminded her. "Tom sent me a picture, though. She looks just like you."

"Thanks, I think."

Neelix nodded. "It's a compliment. What kind of problem are you having with her?"

"I don't have a problem with her," B'Elanna said earnestly. "She's a great person. She works hard at school, she does her chores, she's respectful – I would think she was switched at birth if Tom hadn't been the one who delivered her." She took a breath. "Neelix, do you remember that teenage Q who turned up a few months before you left Voyager?"

Neelix frowned and squinted, as though trying to remember. B'Elanna couldn't blame him. There had been so many missions, so many alien cultures, so many strange things that had happened on Voyager, and it was, after all, so very long in the past. She retraced the events, trying to jog his memory, and realized how absurd the whole situation sounded.

But it had actually happened, and Neelix began to remember. "His father was the one who wanted to mate with Captain Janeway."

"Yes," B'Elanna said empathetically.

Although Neelix had been informed of Andrew Kim's entrance into Starfleet, the exact chain of events didn't make a lot of sense to him. He wondered if perhaps the light-years between him and his old friends was too great a divide. But as B'Elanna gave him a brief run-down of Q's big proclamation at the graduation party, things began to make a little more sense. Q had sent Harry back in time before the joint Federation-Klingon transgalactic com link was established, so the only life Neelix remembered was the one in which Andrew didn't exist – or at least, didn't exist until a few years earlier.

"So Q is responsible for Andrew's birth," Neelix pieced together, squinting slightly.

B'Elanna nodded. "As he explains it, the reason was so that Andrew could marry Miral. He claims it has something to do with the continuation of life as we know it."

"That sounds serious."

"And he's asked L'Naan to help him save his species."

"Oh my."

* * *

**San Francisco, Starfleet Academy, Xenobiology Research Lab**

Miral knew she technically wasn't supposed to have unrestricted access to the lab now that she had graduated, but her access code hadn't yet been purged from the system. She knew the xenobiology research files contained more information on the specifics of individual species than the general library computers, and if she was going to help her sister, she'd need whatever she could find. She only hoped that any other student researchers in the lab would understand and not report her unauthorized presence.

As it turned out, Miral needn't have worried about other students. Professor Rossi, her advisor and mentor, was working at the central console with a stack of specimens when Miral entered.

"Ensign, what are you doing here?" she asked as Miral slowly entered the lab. "Your research has concluded. And, if I'm not mistaken, you've graduated."

"I know, Professor," Miral said. "My access code still works, and I was hoping to get some information."

"Information you can't get on your assignment?"

"I'm not scheduled to report for duty yet," Miral explained.

"And the general library computers…?"

"Don't have what I'm looking for." Miral took a breath. "Professor Rossi, I need access to all the research we have on the species called the Q. And I can't tell you why."

Rossi sized up her former student researcher for a moment. Miral Paris had worked with her for the past three years, and, apart from a computer core crash she had somehow caused and then fixed – Rossi still wasn't sure she wanted to hear the whole story – she'd been an exemplary scientist and cadet. She slowly nodded her permission.

"Thank you."

As Miral made her way to her old work station, she heard the professor utter, "The Q?" But fortunately she didn't ask for any answers.

* * *

**Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

L'Naan placed her hand on the akoonah and closed her eyes. "A-koo-chee-moya, we are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers."

When she opened her eyes, she was sitting under the only tree she could see for kilometers. The sky above was turbulent and gray, and long grasses rippled in the wind. In the distance she could see the edge of a lake, its wavy surface shining black under the dark sky. L'Naan turned to look over her shoulder and saw a city rising behind her. Its architecture, with its domes and towers, was unmistakable.

_Lake of Lusor. My first visit to Qo'noS._

Chakotay had explained that the place she saw would have special meaning to her. L'Naan had anticipated his farm in Indiana, or her grandfather's home on Lake Como, maybe even the Enterprise – it never occurred to her that she would be looking at Klingon land.

_What's so special about this place?_

On her first visit to the Klingon homeworld, her older cousins had fooled her into accepting a challenge for battle to prove her honor. Once satisfied that she was worthy, they had taken her to the lake for the afternoon. The weather had turned suddenly, though, spoiling their afternoon plans. The sky had looked much as it did now.

Chakotay had also explained that her animal guide would be the first animal she saw. As the rippling grasses parted slightly, a speckled targ came running out toward her. L'Naan giggled; it wasn't at all the animal guide she expected.

"Are you really my animal guide?" The targ didn't answer. "I'm trying to figure out if I should help the Q. Everyone tells me it's a trick. Can you tell me what to do?" It snorted slightly and trotted away.

L'Naan opened her eyes in frustration.

* * *

**Kim Family Residence**

At the designated meeting time, Miral and L'Naan turned up on the Kims' doorstep to discuss their findings with Andrew. Miral, claiming her place as a soon-to-be member of their family, opened the door without knocking. She and L'Naan stepped inside as Libby came out to see who had entered.

"Hello, love," Libby greeted with a warm kiss on Miral's forehead.

"Hiya," Miral said in return. She jerked her thumb behind her. "I brought company."

"Hi, Libby," L'Naan said, entering behind her sister.

"Hello, sweetheart," Libby said, putting an arm around her and leading her inside. "You haven't been over here in…how many months?"

"Mom," Andrew told her, emerging from his bedroom, "they're not here to hang out. We're working on the Q thing."

Giving L'Naan's shoulder a little rub, Libby declared, "In that case, I'll leave you alone to talk. Do you want me to make you some lunch? Why don't you use your father's office? I'll bring your food in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Libby," Miral called as they headed into another room. For good measure, she added, "Love you!"

"Okay," Andrew declared as they settled in Harry's office. "Let's get started. Miral, what did you learn from the xenobiology research files?"

"Why are you taking charge?" Miral asked him.

"Because I'm the highest ranking officer."

"No, you're not. We were both made ensigns on the same day."

"You're on the science track; I'm in operations. I outrank you."

"The future of humanity is at stake," L'Naan reminded them. "Can we just start talking without establishing a chain of command?"

"Fine." Miral activated a padd containing her notes. "We know from Mom and Dad that the Q commonly turn up without invitation, wreaking havoc on people. Usually the people don't know it. Three Starfleet captains recorded official encounters – first Picard, then Admiral Janeway, and Ch'Tal logged an incident while on a mission in the Gamma Quadrant."

"I know all this," L'Naan said testily.

"I'm briefing Andrew," her sister replied.

"You're in good company, L'Naan," Andrew noted. "All those captains are celebrated heroes."

"Anyway," Miral continued with slight annoyance at the interruption, "we have little on them biologically. No one's seen their native corporeal form. We don't even know if they have corporeal forms. No epidemiology, no information available on life expectancy, reproduction, or habitat." She looked at her sister. "You could be putting yourself in serious danger."

"I doubt it," L'Naan said. "They wouldn't put me at risk if they need me."

"Do you know _how_ they want you to help them?" Andrew asked.

"Are they asking you to sexually reproduce?" Miral asked more directly.

Andrew turned to look at her. "Do the Q even have gender?" Miral shrugged faintly.

L'Naan sighed. "I don't know the answers to any of those questions. Charlie hasn't explained yet. Admiral Janeway said that when Charlie was conceived, his parents just touched fingers. Of course, I don't have Q powers, so I don't know if that would work. But maybe if I live in the Continuum like Charlie wants me to –"

"Let's talk about you living among them," Miral interrupted. "Where? How?"

"I don't know, Miral," L'Naan said snippily. "They didn't tell me."

Miral set the padd down on Harry's desk. "Little sister, I'm a xenobiologist. You tell me an alien entity wants to reproduce with you, and I'm going to start asking you questions about fertilization, gestation – and you don't know any of it. You want to live among them? You'll need to know if there's a food source and a breathable atmosphere."

"They're Q, Miral. I don't think any of that stuff matters."

"But _you_ are human and Klingon," Miral reminded her.

L'Naan looked back and forth from Miral and Andrew, both in their fresh Starfleet uniforms. She scoffed. "You know what I think? I think you're coming up with all these possible obstacles because you're jealous."

"Why would I be jealous?" her sister demanded.

"Because you like to pretend that you don't care about the myth surrounding your birth, but you do. You like being special. And now I'm special, too. And you can't stand it."

Miral's eyes met Andrew's, and they shared a moment of understanding. _This has gone to her head._ But Miral recognized that Andrew was silently encouraging her to be nice.

"I'm not jealous, little sister," she said patiently. "I just want to help you make a good decision."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence, 2400**

L'Naan Paris wasn't exactly resentful that her high school graduation hadn't attracted as much attention as her sister Miral's graduation from Starfleet Academy. For one thing, Miral was about to board a starship and disappear on a six-month tour of duty, and she had just gotten engaged to her childhood sweetheart. Both events were worthy of celebration, L'Naan understood. Her own graduation was rather anticlimactic, since she had essentially finished "high school" at the age of sixteen and had spent the past two years taking university-level courses while trying unsuccessfully to pass two remaining required classes for her diploma: abstract art (which her father thought was funny) and physical education (which her mother thought was embarrassing).

Only days before Miral's graduation, she had finished a hideous sculpture intended to represent avarice and had managed to complete a series of track and field tests – setting no records, but managing to utilize her Klingon stamina to at least finish the events. Her graduation from high school was now official.

The Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence on Galor IV had provisionally accepted her application for admission two years earlier, and L'Naan could have matriculated without completing her high school diploma. Her father, however, had encouraged her to remain on Earth, noting that she'd have the rest of her life to be an engineer but only a few years to enjoy being a teenager. Now that she was eighteen and carried a diploma, however, she had alerted the Institute of her intention to matriculate in the fall. She was one step closer to achieving her childhood dream of building of an android.

Her last summer at home had been mapped out months in advance. She would spend a few weeks visiting "Grandpa T," her mother's father, and then she would join Professor Chakotay and some of his students on an excavation on a moon in the Krylar system. From there, she would catch a passenger transport to Galor IV.

The carefully constructed plans had come unraveled after her first "date" with the Q she called Charlie. Apart from intriguing her, he had asked to join the Q Continuum. L'Naan still wasn't sure what that entailed, and she hadn't decided whether or not she was going to agree to do it; she did know without a doubt, however, that she would no longer be spending the summer hanging out with an old man or digging for buried archaeological treasure.

She was treading lightly around her parents, who were much less enthusiastic about Charlie's offer. As she padded to the kitchen that morning in her pajamas, L'Naan tried to figure out the best way she could break the news to her grandfather and mother.

The smell of freshly made raktajino hit her nose before she reached the kitchen doorway, and L'Naan could hear strains of a conversation between her mother and father.

"…never really thought about it," B'Elanna was saying. "If I had, maybe I would have tried harder to forgive him."

"You can't blame yourself," Tom said. "You did forgive him. You just didn't become friends with him. You have nothing to regret."

"That's easy for you to say. Look at you and your father now. Your mother even lived long enough to see the two of you become friends."

"Good morning," L'Naan interrupted cautiously. Her parents, both seated at the kitchen table, turned to look at her. "What's going on?"

"Sit down, squirt," her father said with a tense look on his face. "We have some bad news."

L'Naan took a seat at the table as instructed. Her mother laid a hand atop hers. "Grandpa T is dead," she explained.

* * *

**Earth, Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

L'Naan stormed across the backyard toward Admiral Janeway and Charlie, who were kneeling in front of the flower beds. Just as Charlie held up a yellow poppy for Janeway's inspection, L'Naan shoved him squarely in the chest, knocking spring bloom out of his hands.

"L'Naan, what are you doing?" Janeway demanded as she stooped to retrieve the fallen flower.

But L'Naan didn't hear. "You," she growled, shoving Charlie again and knocking him a few steps backward. "You did this! You selfish monster!" She gave him one last, hard push.

The look of surprise on Charlie's face didn't register with her until he had already tripped on a rock. Charlie stumbled backward, arms flailing, and landed on his back on the hard spring ground. He sat up, slightly dazed, and tentatively touched the back of his head with two fingers.

Prepared to pounce on him, L'Naan stopped cold when she saw him bring his hand back to look at it: it was covered with blood.

"Charlie, what the hell?" she cried, pulling him to his feet.

Janeway dropped the bouquet she was holding and rushed over to them. She pressed her palm against the back of Charlie's head to stop the bleeding and led them back inside the house.

After Charlie's wound had been tended and both young people had calmed slightly, Janeway sat them down at the kitchen table. "All right," she said in a no-nonsense voice usually reserved for Starfleet subordinates. "Out with it. Why did you attack him? And how can you possibly bleed?"

Charlie and L'Naan exchanged a slightly nervous look, and Janeway realized there was a conspiracy at work.

L'Naan cleared her throat. "Admiral, I'm sorry I came bursting in like that," she said sincerely. "I just found out that my grandfather died."

Janeway's eyes widened. "The admiral?"

"No, ma'am, my mom's father. I was supposed to spend the next month visiting him, and when I found out he was dead, I thought Charlie had something to do with it to keep me here."

"I wouldn't do that," Charlie told them.

"What about your father?" L'Naan asked.

Charlie shook his head. "Your grandfather died of natural causes."

She bit her lip. "Well, can't you bring him back?"

"I'm really sorry, L'Naan," he said earnestly.

"I'm sorry, too," Janeway said, patting L'Naan's hand lovingly. "I know you were close." L'Naan nodded. "But that still doesn't explain how Charlie got injured."

Charlie looked at L'Naan. _You promised you wouldn't tell her._

_I won't._

"Just part of the experiment of trying to be human," Charlie explained lightly. "It's definitely not one of the better aspects of mortal life. I won't try it again, Aunt Kathy. I promise. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Janeway's lips pressed together into a thin line. She now had all the evidence she needed to determine that there was more to Charlie's arrival and to his request of L'Naan than either of them was willing to tell her. She just wasn't sure what she was going to do about it.

* * *

**Greece, Mykonos, Paraga Beach**

L'Naan surveyed the crowded beach, averting her eyes from the nude sunbathers. She spotted an empty patch of sand and pointed. "There."

As she led them toward their destination, she heard Charlie comment, "Finally some humans who understand how ridiculous clothing is."

L'Naan whirled around. "You are _not_ taking off your bathing suit," she informed him.

"But those people over there –"

"It's been a tradition for people to go nude on this beach for centuries," her friend Lenaris chimed in. "Personally I prefer to remain covered up, but who are we to fly in the face of tradition?"

Charlie looked toward L'Naan again, but her eyes warned him that he'd already gotten her final verdict on the matter.

As she and Lenaris arranged their beach towels, Charlie watched them, uncertain of what to do. Then the two girls spread out on the towels, facing up to the midday sun.

"Come on," L'Naan encouraged, squinting up at Charlie. He was drinking in the sight of her and Lenaris in their bathing suits, and she'd caught him red-handed. She blushed slightly but couldn't resist smiling. "Lie down next to me."

Charlie did as instructed, lying on his back with his hands stiffly folded across his chest. "Now what?"

L'Naan laughed. "Loosen up. You're supposed to be relaxing."

"Hasn't he ever been to a beach before?" Lenaris whispered from her place at L'Naan's left.

"He doesn't get out much."

Although L'Naan was still uncertain whether or not she was going to agree to help Charlie, and although she still felt upset at the loss of her grandfather, she had to acknowledge that the summer was offering her fresh possibilities. Having a little time to spend with her best friend and new Q pal on a sun-drenched beach in Greece was certainly a plus.

After a quiet half-hour, Charlie sat up. "I'm dripping liquid," he complained.

"You're sweating," L'Naan corrected without opening her eyes.

"I feel hot." He looked out at the cresting surf and the people laughing as they splashed in it. "I'm going to get in the water." When he saw a look of worry cross L'Naan's face, he added, "I know how to swim."

"Just remember that you need to breathe," she reminded him as he headed toward the shoreline.

Lenaris flipped onto her stomach and looked at her. "Okay, L'Naan, what is with your friend?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's definitely not human. And if you've really been friends for a long time, why is this the first time I've ever met him? You've never mentioned anybody named Charlie before."

L'Naan sat up and shielded her eyes from the sun. "It's kind of complicated, Lenaris."

"Since when do we keep secrets from each other?" she pressed. L'Naan hesitated, and she demanded more forcefully, "What's going on?"

Out in the water Charlie was squatting down slightly so that the waves crashed over his shoulders. He was smiling, and it was clear that he was enjoying himself. L'Naan smiled back, happy to see him having a good time for the first time since she'd met him.

Lenaris followed L'Naan's gaze toward Charlie with a frown. "You are completely in love with him," she said with an accusatory tone. "Just tell me where you met him. Is he from the Enterprise? Is that where you know him from?"

"Yes," L'Naan lied easily. "We were in school together on the Enterprise. We haven't seen each other since then. That's why I never told you about him."

"What's he doing on Earth now?" Lenaris asked carefully.

Still watching Charlie, L'Naan explained, "The Enterprise is in orbit for a few days, and then Charlie's staying behind so he can start university in the fall."

"Oh, I see." Lenaris sat up abruptly. "You are lying!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are! I can tell by the way your left eye twitches a little. And the Enterprise is nowhere near this sector right now. I just read about an article about it in the newsfeed this morning."

L'Naan sighed and turned to her friend. "You're right. I'm lying. I'm sorry."

"What's going on?"

"Look, Lenaris, you're my best friend, but you have to trust me. I can't talk about this – about him – with anyone – not even you."

That wasn't the whole truth, for which L'Naan felt slightly guilty. After all, she had told Miral and Andrew, her parents, and Admiral Janeway and Chakotay. She was reasonably certain that by now Harry and Libby, the Doctor, Reg Barclay, and Icheb all knew about Charlie's offer, too. But they were all connected with Starfleet or with Andrew's birth somehow, and that set them apart. Telling a complete outsider like Lenaris just didn't seem right.

But she recognized the hurt in her friend's eyes. They'd been friends for a long time, and Lenaris was right: they rarely, if ever, kept secrets from each other. The last thing L'Naan wanted to do was drive a wedge between them a few weeks before they headed off to different schools. It was just one more to add to the list of challenges Charlie's arrival had presented her.

"I'm sorry," she said again as Charlie came sloshing out of the water. He dropped onto the towel to her right, diverting her attention.

* * *

**USS Galileo, Private Quarters of Ensign Miral Paris**

Andrew took one last look around Miral's quarters. It was only a sixth-month mission – short by Starfleet standards, he had to remind himself. He took her hand and kissed it gently.

"You always cause trouble the minute before I leave to go somewhere," she said as a warning.

"I won't this time," he promised. It was true. They'd spent every possible second together over the past few days, and any time they weren't talking about L'Naan, they were making love or talking about their future together. He wasn't exactly sick of Miral – he was too in love for that – but he didn't feel that her departure necessitated any kind of drama. When she first accepted the assignment on the Galileo, Andrew had been worried about the strain the light-years between them would put on their relationship and had feared something happening to Miral during her mission. He wasn't sure he was ready to admit it to her, but something about Q's announcement gave him more confidence that even though she was shipping out, she'd come back to him.

"I'll talk to you every day after my duty shift ends," Miral pledged. Andrew nodded. "I'm really worried about leaving right now. My sister doesn't really have a lot of friends to confide in."

"True," Andrew said, "but she does have at least ten people who consider themselves her godparents and aunts and uncles."

"You know, Drew, it's funny. When we were little, no one really worried about her. They all thought she was precocious, and it amused them, but everyone was always sticking their nose in _my_ business. Worrying about me, giving me unsolicited advice. I was the one everyone thought needed guidance." She laughed slightly. "I guess that's really changed, hasn't it? L'Naan – she – she's smart, Drew, but she doesn't understand how life works in some ways. I mean, I always wanted to bend things my way, but I understand now that that's not how it works. L'Naan has this idealistic belief that the universe is on the side of the good, and that people have noble intentions. If Q sets her up to get hurt..." She frowned. "You have to promise me you'll look out for her."

"I will," he promised. "I'll look out for her."

"Q makes her feel important," Miral continued. "You have to remind her that going to the Daystrom Institute has always been her dream – and that it's equally important."

Andrew nodded again. "I'll try. I'll do whatever I can."

"Do you know she actually took him swimming on Mykonos?"

"Miral, I said I'd keep you posted."

"Okay, okay," she said with a nod, trusting that he'd take care of L'Naan as she would. She handed him a padd. "And you have to work on plans for the wedding."

"It's six months away!" he protested as he accepted the padd. "What is this?"

"Some notes I made since I won't be around to help you. Ask your mom for help, too. Don't ask my mom – she's terrible at things like that. But you should talk to her about it once in awhile. She'd never say anything to either of us, but if you don't let her voice her opinion from time to time, she'll feel left out."

"Miral, this is starting to feel less and less like a good-bye and more and more like a briefing."

She smirked. "You have a lot of responsibilities while I'm gone."

"I have to work, too, you know," he reminded her impatiently. "It's not as though I'll be sitting at home just waiting for you to return."

"Speaking of home…."

Andrew nearly groaned. "You're going to tell me to find my own place to live."

"Drew, we can't live with your parents after we're married."

"Why not? You won't be around most of the time, so what do you care where I live?"

"Honey, we need our own place," she insisted. She took the padd from his hands and set in on the dining table. Then she placed her hands on his chest. "Trust me, your dad wants you out of the house. Ask my dad to help you to find an apartment. He's good at that kind of stuff. But don't let him talk you into Oakland. I want to stay in San Francisco. Try to find something in the Mission District."

Andrew put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "You're getting really bossy, you know that? Have you forgotten that I outrank you?"

"Let's get one thing straight," she said in authoritative voice. She tapped his chest with her index finger. "You might outrank me at work for the rest of our lives, but I will always outrank you at home. Got it?"

He tried to bite her outstretched finger, but she pulled it back. "And what happens if I decide to be insubordinate?"

"Then you will be punished."

"What kind of punishment?" he asked, his lips nearly touching hers. He caressed the side of her face with the tips of his fingers.

"Try it and find out." She took his mouth with her own, and they kissed deeply for a moment until the computer interrupted them.

"The time is now 1630."

"We depart in a half-hour," she told him. "Time for you to go." She kissed him quickly. "I'll walk you to the transporter room."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: En Route to Qo'noS, 2400**

B'Elanna Torres paced the floor of the observation lounge that was serving as her office as she and Worf made their way once again to the Klingon homeworld. They were only a day into their journey, but she was already feeling a bit of cabin fever.

"Ambassador Sperik asked me if, in my official opinion, Korath would be able to convince the High Council to join the Federation," she explained.

"And your response?" Worf asked her seriously from his chair at the conference table, where he sat like an old grishnar cat.

"I told him that the Empire is likely to be a more sincere ally now that Lurchek has the Council behind him," B'Elanna replied, turning to face him with her hands on her hips, "but that expecting the Empire to abandon its code of honor for Federation principles is farfetched."

Worf nodded. "Lurchek will prove far more cooperative than his predecessor, but asking Klingons to forsake the honor and glory of battle is like asking the Ferengi to donate latinum to charity."

B'Elanna suppressed a laugh at the comparison. "I keep reading more reports about the Peace Initiative, Worf. There may be more Klingons in favor of Federation candidacy than you think."

Worf peered at her. "And you? Don't tell me you think the Empire should retire the _bat'leth_ for the tricorder?"

"Of course not," B'Elanna tried to assure him convincingly. "It's part of Klingon culture. But I think the people in the movement deserve a chance to live the way they want to live – even if it defies tradition. We already know what centuries of dying honorably are like. Why not see what a few years of nonviolence get us?"

Worf didn't answer but turned back to the padd he was reading. B'Elanna suspected he disagreed with her – that he thought the new social movement was a mere mass of cowards – and she was too tired to engage in a debate. _It's going to be a long week if he's already angry at me._

"How is your family?" Worf asked courteously a few minutes later.

"Tom is…Tom," she told him, sliding into the seat next to him. "And Miral left with the Galileo. She and Andrew are planning to have their wedding in San Francisco when she returns. You're invited, of course." She paused.

"And L'Naan?"

"L'Naan has been invited to…do something I hadn't expected her to do." She watched his mustache twitch a bit. "Look, Worf, I appreciate you asking, but it's a little complicated."

"Then she will not be attending the Daystrom Institute?"

"I don't know," B'Elanna admitted.

Perhaps it was the pressure of the past few weeks, or perhaps it was a need to talk to an unbiased third party. Suddenly B'Elanna found herself confiding to Worf all that had happened with her younger daughter.

To Worf's credit, he did not interject his opinion. He did not share stories of his own encounters with the Q while serving on the Enterprise under Picard. He merely listened to a mother concerned for her child's well-being before saying sagely, "The heart of a warrior is never tested before the warrior is ready."

B'Elanna considered this. She was not keen on the idea of L'Naan disappearing into the folds of the Q Continuum. But perhaps Worf was right. _Maybe this wouldn't be happening if L'Naan couldn't handle it._

* * *

**Earth, Pacific Ocean, Off the Coast of San Francisco**

When Tom offered to take L'Naan and her "new friend" (as he referred to the young Q) sailing after his duty shift at the Academy shuttle hangar, L'Naan responded with a joyful yes. She was less excited about the actual sailing, which she had done innumerable times in her life, than she was the inclusion of Charlie in their afternoon plans.

She had made her decision that morning: she was going to tell Charlie she would help him in any way necessary, even if that meant joining the Continuum and leaving her family behind. The more she thought about the questions everyone had raised, the more L'Naan realized that the answers were unimportant. Her parents had instilled in her a strong sense of duty to the less fortunate. That was what had prompted Miral to hasten to the Quebec Outposts in the midst of the Norvalian plague; it had caused her mother to join the Maquis; it had led to her father's brief incarceration for trying to save a dying ocean. Although she knew neither her parents nor Miral liked her particular cause, she hoped they would be unable to deny that she was merely doing what each of them had done, and just as they had ignored the immediate consequences for the greater good, so would she.

L'Naan spent the day trying to locate Charlie to tell him the news and to invite him sailing. But even though she had called out for Charlie several times and commed the house in Indiana, he was nowhere to be found.

To avoid having to answer her father's questions about the whereabouts of her "new friend," L'Naan had recruited Lenaris to join them, and the three were now traveling south on a course parallel to the Californian coastline as the sun slowly made its way across the western half of the sky.

"What do you mean you're not going to the Daystrom Institute?" Lenaris asked as she looped a rope around a cleat.

"Will you keep your voice down?" L'Naan shushed with a backward glance at her father. He was preoccupied with his role as skipper and didn't seem to be listening to them.

"You mean, you haven't told him yet?" Lenaris asked as they both sat on the edge of the starboard bow.

"No, I just decided today."

"Bring the jib hard on!" Tom called to them.

They rose and quickly got to work, pulling the rope together. Lenaris took advantage of their proximity to whisper, "Why aren't you going? You've been talking about this for ten years."

L'Naan grunted as she tied a bowline and then pushed her hair out of her face. She looked at her friend, asking her not to press for an answer she couldn't give. Lenaris understood.

"Nice job, ladies!" Tom shouted to them with a smile.

They smiled artificially and waved back at him.

"It has to do with Charlie, doesn't it?" Lenaris whispered, looking slightly disgusted. "I can't believe you'd give up your dreams for some idiotic crush. That's not like you."

"That's not how it is," L'Naan tried to explain.

"You've really changed," Lenaris said quietly.

L'Naan leaned against the bow again and tried to think of a way of making sense of it all for Lenaris. But the thoughts were tumbling around her head faster than her mind could process them. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as the boat cruised along, realizing with some sadness that there were costs involved in her decision she hadn't budgeted for.

* * *

**Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

"Have you seen Charlie today?" Kathryn asked Chakotay as he stepped inside the front door.

"That's not a very warm greeting." He leaned down and kissed her. "But, no, I haven't."

"He wasn't here when you left this morning?"

Chakotay shook his head. "He's probably at Tom and B'Elanna's."

"You're probably right," Kathryn said, casting off her concerns. "I thought maybe we'd eat dinner outside tonight. The weather's gorgeous."

"On the porch?"

"No, a picnic," she said with a charmed smile at him. "We can take a walk by the creek."

Chakotay returned her smile. "Sounds great. Let me change my clothes, though."

Kathryn followed him into their bedroom. "I guess Charlie's an adult," she continued. "He can take care of himself. It's not as if he needs our help if he wants to go somewhere."

"Why are you so worried about him suddenly? The last time I checked, you wanted to wring his neck."

Kathryn sat down on the bed and watched with interest as he pulled off his shirt. "I had a chance to see him interact with L'Naan," she explained. "You should see them together, Chakotay. He's up to something – I know it for sure now – but they read each other so well. Whatever he's up to, she's in on it, and I don't think his intention is to hurt her."

"Well, that's good," he said, sitting down on her left. He toed off his shoes and pulled on a pair of boots better suited to a walk through the woods. "Because if anyone hurts my goddaughter…"

"Do you ever wish we'd gotten married?"

"Gotten?" he asked, looking over at her. "Past tense? Has the time come and gone?"

"Okay, I'll rephrase. Do you ever wish we were married?"

"No."

"Fast answer."

He smiled deeply, showing off his dimples. "I used to, but only because there seemed to be a difference in your mind. But I know I'm not going anywhere, and seeing as this is _your_ house, I doubt you are."

"You've lived here for eighteen years," she reminded him. "Do you really still think of this as _my_ house?" She looked at him, pursing her lips. "I'm serious. We've never really talked about it, but marriage would come with certain legal benefits."

"What's gotten into you?" he asked. "Is this because Charlie and L'Naan 'read each other'?"

Kathryn shrugged slightly. "Yes, I suppose so. And Andrew and Miral seem so confident, so sure of themselves, even in spite of the past few weeks."

"They're twenty-one," he reminded her. "In three or four years, they'll realize they don't know anything about life. They'll probably end up getting divorced, and Harry and Tom won't know how to handle it."

But she continued, not really listening to him. "And Charlie asking L'Naan to join the Continuum to help save his race…"

"Do you really believe him?" Chakotay asked, the doubt ringing in his voice.

"I think, Chakotay," she said earnestly, "the question is whether or not L'Naan believes him."

"And that's got you thinking about us?"

She nodded, still lost in thought. "It makes me wonder what our purpose is."

"This is a lot to be discussing on an empty stomach." Her glare told him she wanted him to be serious. "All right," he said. "I suppose I think we have many purposes. You charted an unknown part of the galaxy for seven years. You defeated the Borg. You're in the history books. You changed the lives of one hundred forty people by giving them new opportunities to define themselves, to make friends, to fall in love, to explore. Do I need to go on?"

"No," she said quietly. "What about you?"

Chakotay smiled, dimples fully revealed. "Me? I'm just the guy who always sits to your left." He stood up and offered her a hand.

"Hardly," she said, taking his hand and letting him guide her back toward the kitchen.

They gathered up provisions for their picnic and set off past the expansive backyard. They were following a dirt path through the woods toward the creek when Kathryn decided to resume the conversation.

"What do you think a wedding of ours would be like?"

"Now or back then?"

"Then," she pronounced. She was certain that one or two junior officers had wagered on a relationship between her and her first officer while they were on Voyager; they might as well engage in their own speculation.

"Well," Chakotay began puckishly, "Tuvok would have been your best man."

"And B'Elanna yours," Kathryn teased right back, giving him a winning smile.

"Harry would have played music while the Doctor sang," he continued. "Maybe we could have convinced Seven to wear a dress."

At the mention of Seven's name in vain, Kathryn felt a very old wound being pried slightly open. "Okay, make a joke. It's not worth discussing."

Chakotay realized his mistake too late. Seven of Nine had been many things to Kathryn – friend, crew member, surrogate daughter – and he knew it had hurt her that he and Seven had started seeing each other without telling her. He and Kathryn had conveniently "lost touch" for several years after Voyager had returned from the Delta Quadrant, and they both knew why. Although it was now water under a very old bridge, given that they'd reconciled their friendship and begun a life partnership that had last for nearly twenty years, there were some things he should have known better than to joke about.

They continued on in silence until they reached the creek. Chakotay held the picnic basket open for Kathryn, who pulled out a large red blanket and spread it on the grass for them. Then they settled on top of it and began to pull out miscellaneous containers of food and drink.

After a minute of organizing, Chakotay asked softly, "Do _you_ ever wish we'd gotten married?"

"Sometimes," Kathryn admitted quietly.

"There's no window of time, you know. We still can if you want to."

Kathryn sighed. "For one thing, that doesn't seem like a hearty proposal. For another, there doesn't seem to be much point now, as you said." She poured a glass of wine and handed it to him. "Anyway, everyone would probably think we're following in the footsteps of two reckless twenty-year-olds who will probably end up getting divorced in three years anyway."

Her sarcasm made him frown. "Since when do you care about what other people think of you?" He accepted the glass and sniffed the wine approvingly.

He wondered why the marriage discussion had begun in the first place. While he knew she'd once imagined herself getting married and having a family, he also knew that Voyager's exile had changed that possibility for her. Since they began seeing each other, they'd had an understanding. They were both at certain places in their careers; they were both of a certain age. Talk of child-rearing was just not feasible. Commitment, on the other hand, was instantaneous. Since the day Chakotay had announced he'd taken a position at a university on Earth, they had lived together. In his mind it _was_ a marriage, whether or not they'd ever had a ceremony performed.

Kathryn help up her wine glass, and they tapped them together with a satisfying clinking sound.

* * *

**Jupiter Station, Holographic Laboratory**

"Computer, freeze program."

Work on the twenty-fifth anniversary Voyager holoprogram was painstaking and slow-going, but Tom knew there was no way he'd let the Doctor and Reg Barclay create it without him. As it was, they were three years into the project and three away from the release date, but they were still a long way from finished.

Tom circled around a hologram of himself seated on a lounge chair at the Paxau resort. One of Harry's "volleyball players" was giving holo-Tom a massage while he attempted to work on crew reports.

"I admire the authenticity," he said as he looked down at the padd in holo-Tom's hand. "But I don't think Pablo Baytart wants everyone who uses this program to see his annual evaluation." He peered into his holographic double's face, which looked just a bit more stimulated by the scantily clad blonde who was rubbing his shoulders than Tom would have preferred. "And I _really_ don't want B'Elanna or my daughters to see this scene."

"But this is how it happened," Reg said. "You and Harry were sitting here, and then Q showed up to ask you how to win Captain Janeway's heart."

"Q – the most nefarious letter in the standard alphabet," the Doctor mused. He looked over at Tom, who had his thumb and forefinger to his lips and looked deep in thought. "Reg, maybe under the circumstances, we can skip this particular adventure? I'm sure Admiral Janeway would appreciate it." He gestured slightly at Tom.

Reg nodded back in understanding. "Let's go on to the next one. Computer, initialize chapter 154 – 'Giant Viruses From Outer Space.'"

"Sounds like something out of Captain Proton," Tom commented as the Paxau resort vanished and was replaced with Voyager's mess hall, full of crew members clutching their stomachs and foreheads.

"In this chapter," Reg said excitedly, as he circled the motionless holographic characters, "the user gets to be Captain Janeway as she races to save the ship."

"I helped her," the Doctor reminded him.

"I forgot this even happened," Tom admitted as he walked over to a table where holo-Tom sat next to holo-B'Elanna. He sat down at the third chair at the table. "Reg, Doc, would you mind if we took a break? I can't really concentrate."

Reg sat down at the fourth chair. "You're worried about L'Naan."

"I'm not sure what's worse," Tom admitted, "that L'Naan just told me she's not going to school in the fall or that I'm going to have to tell B'Elanna when she gets back from Qo'noS." He looked at holo-B'Elanna, who looked in his mind just like a slightly older L'Naan. "When she was little and she'd get hurt, I'd pick her up in my arms and kiss her, and after a minute or two I'd have her laughing again. It gets harder to fix their problems as they get older."

"Maybe she doesn't need you to fix this problem," the Doctor suggested gently. "Have you considered the possibility that it's not a problem at all?"

"Doc, I'm not letting my little girl run off with a Q."

The Doctor smiled sympathetically. "She's not really a little girl anymore, though, is she?"

"No," Tom admitted. "Neither is Miral." He looked up at them. "She sent me a copy of her first duty report. It's completely by-the-book."

"When is the wedding?" Reg asked.

Tom ran a hand through his hair to shake himself out of his fog. "She has a six-month tour of duty, and then the Galileo is scheduled to be back in this sector. That's when they'll have the wedding. You'll both be invited, of course. And, Doc, I'm counting on you to bring some beautiful girl on your arm."

The Doctor frowned slightly. "Lina and I broke up," he confessed.

"I'm sorry, Doc," Tom said. "What happened?"

"Opera singers are…emotionally volatile."

"So you're back to being a bachelor like me?" Reg's voice almost sounded giddy.

"Let's get back to work," the Doctor suggested.

"All right," Tom said, lifting himself from the chair. "But let's work on something more fun."

Barclay nodded. "I know just what we should run. Computer, begin chapter 162," he instructed. "'Ensign Kim Encounters the Planet of the Killer Brides.'"

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence**

L'Naan sat cross-legged on her bed, clutching a pillow to her chest. She could hear her parents arguing behind their closed bedroom door, even though her door was also closed. Although she couldn't make out every word, she got the general idea: they were arguing about her.

She hadn't intended to cause friction in their easily aggravated home when she'd confided her decision to her father. In her mind, once her mother returned from Qo'noS, Tom would explain the situation to her, and both parents would embrace her and congratulate her on her special destiny, and then all three would stay up until the wee hours discussing what it would mean for their family.

_You should have known Mom's first response would be 'no,' petaQ,_ she scolded herself.

As for her father, she half-expected his overprotective side to kick in and half-expected that his good-natured free spirit would encourage her to have fun jaunting off to the Continuum. "Keep safe, squirt," she could imagine him saying, "but enjoy the adventure. I always knew you'd end up doing something spectacular."

_You're an idiot._

Chakotay had once told her that when her mother was younger, her standard response to frustration was to throw things. L'Naan had never witnessed that firsthand, and even though her parents seemed to be in the middle of a good brawl, she didn't hear the sound of anything breaking. She supposed that was a good sign.

It wasn't that her mother was out of control or was someone whose temper caused those around her to walk on eggshells. Once a classmate had come home with L'Naan after school and had been intimidated by her – "Your mom is a scary, angry Klingon!" – but L'Naan knew it wasn't true. (In fact, she'd never spoken to the classmate again, and Miral had threatened to beat him up.) B'Elanna was a good mother, one who was protective of her daughters because she wanted them to be happy. L'Naan knew it had something to do with Grandpa T and her mother's seldom-discussed childhood. But apart from being protective, B'Elanna was actually quite warm and funny.

In truth, Tom was the one to be feared. Although he laughed a lot more than he yelled, L'Naan knew from watching the fireworks that occasionally exploded between him and Miral that once the laughter stopped, a serious, not-to-be-crossed person emerged.

That was the reason why it was her mother who was currently advocating her side while her father tried to figure out how to get her out of the Q situation.

But, of course, that was just the day's arrangement. Her parents were seasoned veterans, and if the script called for a change in roles the next day, L'Naan had no doubt they could perform with equal gusto. B'Elanna would say she regretted quitting Starfleet Academy and didn't want L'Naan to make the same mistake. Tom would argue that life can sometimes take a person in unexpected directions, and he'd point out that if B'Elanna hadn't left the Academy and if he hadn't been arrested, they would never have met.

"'And then we wouldn't be in this position in the first place,'" L'Naan muttered to herself in imitation of her mother. She tossed the pillow aside and slid off the bed.

In front of their bedroom door, she took a deep breath and then knocked.

The door flew open. "Squirt?"

"I know you're fighting about me," she said matter-of-factly.

"We're not fighting about you, sweetheart," her mother said, peeking around Tom. "We're not even fighting. We're just –"

"Venting frustration," Tom finished. He stepped aside to let L'Naan in.

"Can I just remind you that I didn't ask for this to happen? This wasn't my choice."

Tom came around to sit on the edge of his bed. "I know," he said with evident weariness. "That's why I'm not mad at you."

"Then who are you mad at?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

"Q. The universe. Shuttle fourteen."

"Shuttle fourteen?"

"Faulty EPS relay," B'Elanna explained. "It's been replaced twice in the last week."

L'Naan nodded, slightly relieved. It was clear her parents were still working as a team. Just one that communicated loudly. She decided to try to lift her father's spirits. "Dad, you want to try out that Emergency Command Hologram subroutine in the Voyager program?"

Tom smiled faintly and put a hand on her knee. "Okay, but you play the ECH. I get to be Captain Janeway."

"Deal."

"Give me and your mother a minute to finish talking, okay, squirt? I'll meet you in the holosuite in five minutes."

L'Naan smiled and started for the door. "Don't take too long," she teased, "or you won't get control of your ship back from me." She closed the door behind her.

Tom ran a hand over his face. "God, B'Elanna, I love her so much."

B'Elanna took the seat L'Naan had vacated and put her hand on his leg. "I know you do." She smiled at him. "I was just thinking how much you've changed since I first met you."

"What do you mean?"

"You used to suppress all your emotions and use the holodeck to avoid dealing with them. Now you're able to have a real conversation with me and to tell your daughters how much you love them."

"I guess."

"She's trying to cheer you up by offering to test that program with you, you know."

"She knows me well." He put his hand over hers on his leg. "I still haven't adjusted to the idea of Miral leaving. I thought we'd have a few more years to get ready for L'Naan."

B'Elanna kissed his temple. "So did I. But you'd better go enjoy the time you do have with her."

Tom nodded. "You want to come with us? I'll let you be the Hierarchy alien."

"Hierarchy alien?" Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember which inhospitable Delta Quadrant species he meant. The Voyager program was his baby – his, Reg Barclay's, and the Doctor's. Unlike them she hadn't spent the past few years steeping herself in their past. It finally registered. "Tom Paris," she said with concern, "you didn't include the part where the Doctor began to fantasize, did you? If the hologram of me throws herself at him…"

Tom just winked and left to join L'Naan.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence, 2400**

Tom Paris walked through his front door with fatigue. After spending four hours in shuttle simulations with the Nova Squadron cadets, he'd spent the other four hours of his day tweaking the Voyager holoprogram's specifications on encounters with the Kazon. He was mentally exhausted, but he also felt the need to burn off some excess energy after having been cooped up in one holodeck or another all day.

"I never thought I'd say this," he said to his daughter in lieu of a more customary greeting, "but I'm sick of being on the holodeck."

L'Naan didn't glance up from the padd she was reading, so Tom dropped onto the couch beside her with a slight groan and took a good look at her. While he was grateful that Q Junior's disappearance had nullified the debate on whether or not she should head to university the fall, he could tell she was more upset about it than she let on.

"What are you reading, squirt?" His voice was soft, trying to show her his concern.

"Data's biography," she said without lifting her eyes.

_That's a good sign. Maybe she's getting excited about school again._

"Haven't you read that already?" She nodded. "Don't you have all the specifications memorized by now?"

L'Naan marked her place in the text and looked up at her father. "It's not just a technical manual, Dad," she said with a little impatience. "It's about Data's dream of becoming human, about his hopes and fears – about how little actually separates man from machine."

Properly chastised, Tom fell silent for a moment. "Why do you want to build androids, L'Naan?" he asked seriously. It occurred to him that he'd supported her goal to the best of his ability – enrolling her in advanced computer courses, sending her to special engineering summer camps, bringing home faulty equipment for her to tinker with – but he'd never actually had a conversation with her about _why_ she was interested in artificial intelligence. Not for the first time, he felt disappointed in himself as a parent.

"How can I explain it?" she began. "It's like figuring out what makes us human. What being alive means. It's not about engineering at all, really – although that part's pretty cool, too – it's about the meaning of life." She took up her padd again, signaling she was finished talking to him. "You wouldn't understand."

"Don't discount me so easily," he said as he rose from the sofa. He paused in the doorway to the kitchen. "I hope we can have a talk about it before you head to Galor IV. I'd like you to help me understand."

L'Naan's eyes drifted back up to her father. "You mean it, Dad?"

Tom nodded sincerely. "I do."

He returned a moment later with a gin and tonic in hand. "Rough day," he explained when she raised an eyebrow at the glass. "Harry and I decided that we're going to revive the annual camping trip tradition, even though you kids are all grown up. Do you have any interest in coming with us?"

"No," she replied automatically.

"Don't you at least want to know where we're going this year?"

L'Naan shook her head, eyes still on the padd. "I can't face everyone, Dad. There'll be too many questions."

Tom took a slow sip of his drink as he watched her.

* * *

"Come on, Chakotay, out with it," B'Elanna prodded. "I've confided in you my entire life, and you never return the favor."

Chakotay may have been smiling, but he wasn't at all persuaded. "If you think I'm going to let _two_ stubborn women tell me what to do, you're wrong."

"Try living with _three_," Tom called from the kitchen. "All of them Klingon!"

"Stop eavesdropping and finish making dinner!" B'Elanna called back. She leaned a little toward Chakotay and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Come on, I won't tell him."

"You _always_ tell him," he retorted smugly. "Let's change the subject. The word in the rumor mill is that there's an annual camping trip in the works."

B'Elanna took a moment to take a drink of her coffee and then set the mug on the coffee table. "There is," she acknowledged.

"I wouldn't dream of telling you how to live your life or manage your friends," Chakotay began.

"But you want to know why you and Janeway have never been invited," she finished. "Look, Chakotay, these camping trips have always been Tom's thing. They were really just an excuse to get the kids together. I guess he didn't think it would be very much fun for the two of you."

"And I'm sure no one thought it would be fun to stand at attention around the campfire," he guessed. He could tell from the slight hesitation on her face that he was right. "I know Kathryn will always be 'the admiral' to you and Tom and Harry, but she thinks of herself as your friend."

B'Elanna was caught slightly off-guard. "I think of her as my friend, too."

"No," he corrected, "you think of me as your friend, and she's part of the package."

B'Elanna opened her mouth to protest but couldn't find a suitable retort. Chakotay was more than a friend to her; he had been her captain, her savior, her crush, her family. While serving under then Captain Janeway, B'Elanna had developed an appreciation and respect for the woman, even if their relationship was occasionally contentious. They would always be connected because of their experiences on Voyager, but they weren't likely to start spending time alone together without Chakotay and Tom.

Tom's relationship with Janeway was different. He felt he owed his life to her in some ways, and he respected and admired her. They were compatible in ways that B'Elanna and the admiral weren't, and they were able to enjoy each other's company. But Tom was still in Starfleet, and that put a limit on how intimate his relationship with the admiral could be. The same was true for Harry.

"It would mean a lot to me if you invited us to come with you this year," Chakotay said. "Since it'll just be adults anyway…"

B'Elanna nodded. She owed him that courtesy, she knew. "You're right. I'm sorry we never invited you before." Chakotay nodded back at her, indicating that they were back on solid ground, and B'Elanna took the opportunity to needle him again. "I'll invite you camping as soon as you tell me whatever it is that's bothering you."

She could see a smile spread on his lips as he took a sip of herbal tea. "All right," he said, putting his cup down on the table. "I think Kathryn wants to get married."

B'Elanna nearly choked. "Really?" she managed to ask. "Do you want to?"

"Of course."

"So then what's the problem?"

"Her. She's got it in her head that I don't want to. If I push the issue now, she'll think I'm only agreeing to it to please her. She makes up her mind about things sometimes and can't be reasoned with."

In a flash Tom was sitting on the coffee table facing them. "That sounds like someone I know," he said intensely. "What you have to do is decide if you want to wait for her to come around or if you want to beg."

Chakotay frowned at B'Elanna, who merely shrugged at Tom's unwelcome presence – and keen hearing.

"Chakotay," Tom continued with intensity, "think about all the times you tried to persuade her to make a decision. How did you convince her?"

"Tom," B'Elanna warned, "he didn't ask for your help."

"I don't convince her," Chakotay said honestly. "I express my opinion – I tell a story – and she listens and says she respects what I have to say, and then she does whatever the hell she wants."

Tom gave a laugh. "So I guess you've got a worse situation than I do."

"I guess. Women with Irish tempers can be just about as bad as Klingons."

B'Elanna watched them banter about whose woman was more intractable for a moment, her face clouded over. "Very funny, both of you," she interrupted. As they turned to look at her, she rolled her eyes. "Chakotay, instead of all this scheming, why don't you just talk to her honestly?"

* * *

**Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

"Not every healthy, happy relationship needs to culminate in marriage," Kathryn pointed out.

Chakotay licked his lips, rather enjoying the ride. He was about two parsecs away from convincing her, he knew. Given that he'd already gotten her to come half way across the galaxy (both literally and in terms of this discussion), he figured he was doing well. "Of course," he agreed seriously.

"If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

"Of course."

"We're fine the way we are. What if marriage changes all that?" She looked at him as though she expected a response, so he nodded in agreement. "I don't know, Chakotay. This is a big decision."

"It's really not. And, anyway, you're the one who brought it up in the first place."

"Because I thought you wanted it."

"You've been living with me for fifteen years. You know all my habits. You know all my idiosyncrasies. How do you not know how I feel about this?"

She couldn't answer. "How can I prove to you how important you are to me?" she asked quietly.

"You don't have to."

"Someday you'll regret the direction your life didn't take."

Chakotay shook his head. "For such an intelligent woman, you can be surprisingly dense sometimes. I'm not a victim of circumstance."

Kathryn frowned and put her hands on her hips. "I love you, you know."

"I do know. And I love you, too."

"You were wrong before. _Neelix_ would have been the best man. Tuvok would have recited Vulcan love poems."

At that Chakotay laughed. "How exactly does a Vulcan love poem go?"

Kathryn looked at him with a mischievous smile. "'She walks in logic, like the arid night,'" she began.

"'How do I love thee? It would be logical to enumerate the ways'?" he suggested.

"We shouldn't make jokes at Tuvok's expense," Kathryn said as they both tried to suppress their laughter.

"You should marry me," he said deliberately.

Her face froze mid-laugh. "What?" She turned to look at him and saw that he was serious.

"You heard me," Chakotay said resolutely.

"Was that a proposal?"

"A suggestion."

"But I thought…"

"You thought wrong." His dimples appeared as he couldn't help but smile. _A scientist and an admiral, but sometimes you can't see what's as plain as day._

"Why now?" Her eyes showed her bewilderment.

"Because you want to," he said simply. "And because if you don't agree to it, I'll tell you a story from my people that will persuade you anyway."

She attempted a few responses, but she didn't manage to get any of them out.

Chakotay grinned as she shook her head in futility. "Can't you at least muster one word for an answer?"

"Yes."

* * *

**San Francisco, Starfleet Headquarters, Office of Admiral Kathryn Janeway**

Andrew Kim sat anxiously in one of the chairs facing Admiral Janeway's desk. He'd been summoned for a meeting at 1315, though he wasn't sure why. He'd arrived on time and had been escorted in by Janeway's assistant, but he'd been waiting for nearly fifteen minutes. The admiral was usually quite prompt.

At last the door to the office opened, and Janeway blew in. Because he had known her on a personal level before he had known her professionally, Andrew was familiar with two sides of her personality. There was "Kathryn," who made lemonade and told funny stories on her back porch, and there was "the admiral" who wore a stern expression at all times. Even though they were at Starfleet Command, and even though she was wearing her uniform, she looked light – blissful, even – and Andrew was more than surprised.

"Andrew, Chakotay and I have decided to get married," she declared as she crossed the office to her desk.

"That's fantastic," Andrew said. "But why did you need to schedule a meeting with me to tell me that?"

Janeway sat down behind her desk, her elbows resting on its surface. "I don't want you and Miral to think we're trying to steal your spotlight."

Andrew smiled, and for a moment Janeway was convinced she was looking at Harry Kim. "Admiral, I couldn't be happier for you, and I'm sure Miral will feel the same way. Why don't we all celebrate together?"

Janeway lovingly patted his arm. "Chakotay and I aren't going to have a wedding."

"Really? That's a shame," Andrew said earnestly. "Maybe Miral and I can give you a toast at our reception?"

Janeway studied him. His eyes held the same kind, affectionate look that his father's did. She remembered him as an infant rather subdued in nature, then as a part of a two-headed trouble-making monster with Miral when they were toddlers, as an awkward adolescent unsure of how to deal with his rapid development, and as a young cadet embarking on his first steps to adulthood. In her eyes, he was still young, but with a quiet wisdom and one fresh pip on his uniform that indicated he was ready for bigger challenges. She felt a sense of pride thinking about how he had turned out. She also felt incredibly old.

"What's wrong me?" Andrew said aloud, rising from his chair. He came around the desk and embraced her, catching her off guard. "Congratulations," he said again. "Just because we're at Starfleet, I forget all manners."

Janeway raised an eyebrow as she returned his embrace. "Not many ensigns go around hugging admirals."

"Not many admirals are godmothers to ensigns," he replied.

At that Janeway smiled. She put a hand to his cheek affectionately. "Now, Ensign, tell me about your new assignment. I hear your commanding officer is pretty tough."

* * *

**Eastern Mojave Desert**

B'Elanna's eyes caught Chakotay's across the campfire as Kathryn Janeway doubled over in laughter. Her hair fell out of its tidy arrangement as she struggled to catch her breath.

When at last she sat back up, Chakotay pried her fingers off the canteen she was holding. "Okay, I think that's enough of Libby's special campfire punch for you." He sniffed the container and was rewarded with a noxious odor. "What's in here anyway?"

Libby grinned as she took a swig of her own canteen. "You don't want to know," she told him merrily. She offered the punch to Harry, who signaled his refusal as he rubbed her back affectionately. "Suffice it to say, camping without the kids is turning out to be a lot more fun than I anticipated."

That set Janeway to laughing again, and Tom and Harry turned to look at each other, raising their eyebrows.

"Admiral," Tom said, leaning toward her with obvious amusement, "you're drunk."

"Yes, Tom," she readily agreed, patting his arm, "I'm drunk."

Even B'Elanna couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't remember seeing Janeway so carefree before, so comfortable and happy among their ranks, and it made her glad Chakotay had been forthright about wanting to join them.

"Harry," Janeway declared, wiping a tear from her eye, "I had no idea you were such a good storyteller."

Harry looked triumphantly at his friends. "Finally someone who appreciates my fireside stories." He slid a marshmallow onto a sharpened stick and held it over the fire. "If you think that's funny, Admiral, wait until I tell you about the time when we were boating on Lake Victoria and B'Elanna fell into the water and –"

"Watch it, Harry," B'Elanna warned severely.

"Oh, relax, B'Elanna," Janeway said, still laughing. She picked up the canteen and thrust it in her direction. "Just drink some of this, and you'll think it's the funniest story you've ever heard."

* * *

**San Francisco, Kim Family Residence**

"Don't cut it like that," L'Naan snapped. "What are you doing? Square pieces?! Who eats pizza in square pieces?"

"Then you cut it," Andrew snapped back, handing her the knife. "I suppose you want triangular pieces?"

"Everyone eats pizza in triangular pieces. It's easier to hold that way."

Andrew walked over to the replicator and ordered a beer. "You're making me feel the need to drink, L'Naan," he called to her as he retrieved the frosty glass.

"It was your idea to hang out together tonight," she reminded him as she artfully cut the pizza the way her father had taught her. "There," she said with satisfaction. "Are we eating in the living room?"

Andrew nodded. "I have a new holovid we can watch. You want a beer?"

"Yes, please. I'll take the pizza. You bring the napkins." She carried the platter into the living room and settled on the floor with her legs tucked under the coffee table.

Andrew joined her a moment later with the accoutrements and knelt down beside her. He smiled. "Bon appétit."

"Stop acting weird, Andrew."

He held up a slice of the pizza, folding it just slightly in the middle so it would fit into his mouth. "What are you talking about?"

L'Naan took a swig of beer. "You only invited me here because our parents are camping right now, and you're completely avoiding any discussion of the Charlie vs. Galor IV debate. I know you're thinking about it."

"Actually, it was the furthest thing from my mind," he told her sincerely, handing her a napkin and motioning for her to wipe the corner of her mouth. "I was thinking that it's kind of fun to spend time with you, and I was wondering why we never did it before."

"Because my sister was always around, and she gets jealous if I even mention your name."

"Oh, Miral," Andrew teased, "I forgot about her."

"Ha ha." L'Naan reached in front of him for the pepper and sprinkled it onto her piece of pizza. Then she raised the slice to her mouth. The cheese stretched for several centimeters between her teeth and the rest of the slice, and she growled in frustration until Andrew pried it apart with his fingers. "Thanks," she said with her mouth full.

Andrew nodded. L'Naan was definitely in a grumpy mood, and she had been all summer. Luckily he had plenty of experience at dealing with the Paris temper and wasn't put off by it. He meant what he had said. With their parents out camping in the Mojave, it was nice to spend time together before she departed for school.

"Are you getting excited about going?" he asked.

L'Naan took another swig of beer. "A little," she admitted. "I wish Lenaris and I could make up before I go, though. Do you know she hasn't talked to me in over a month? She doesn't even know I changed my mind about going to the Daystrom Institute."

"She still thinks you're ditching everything that matters to you because you like some guy?" L'Naan nodded. "Was that the reason you had decided to go with Q?"

"Kahless, Andrew, how can you even ask me that? That's like me asking if you wanted to join Starfleet because Miral was!"

"Fair enough," he said reluctantly, "but, you know, it was a plus."

* * *

**Eastern Mojave Desert**

"I know we agreed to leave Starfleet back in San Francisco," Kathryn began as Tom and Harry groaned audibly, "but, Harry, it's really time for you to think about your next career move. There are going to be a few captains getting bumped to admiral in the next few months."

"Let's not even talk about it. I haven't been in charge of a ship in a long time."

"True," Kathryn said soberly, "but there are ships whose missions are to do exactly what you're doing at Command. And you've already passed the bridge officer's test."

"Admiral," Harry said politely with a smile, "I'm not sure that's the career move I want to make."

Kathryn nodded. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Why Harry?" Tom pouted. "What about me?"

Harry grinned. "For the record, I think you would make a great captain."

"Thanks, Har," Tom said, aiming a spear at him. Harry pulled the toasted marshmallow off it and popped it into his mouth. "You could be my first officer any day."

"You two sicken me sometimes," Libby said, shaking her head before taking another drink. "I mean, really, you're just so in love with each other." She looked admonishingly at Kathryn. "We said no Starfleet."

"You're right, Libby," Kathryn agreed. "I'm sorry."

"How's L'Naan?" Chakotay asked B'Elanna in a soft voice. "We really missed her at the excavation. She would have been a great asset to the team."

B'Elanna sighed slightly, shaking her head. "She's planning to go to the Daystrom Institute, but she has completely isolated herself from everyone around her. I've never seen her like this." She shivered. "We said no kids."

"She's right," Harry added. "No talking about the kids."

* * *

**San Francisco, Kim Family Residence**

Having devoured the pizza and washed it down with two beers each, L'Naan and Andrew leaned against the couch, watching a holovid in silence. Neither was very interested in it, but they were stuffed and tired, and it was easier to keep watching than to think of anything else to do.

When Andrew gave a huge yawn, L'Naan turned her attention back to him. "I guess I should get going," she said, beginning to stand up. She pulled herself to her feet, and her knees buckled slightly. "My legs are asleep," she declared, dropping onto the couch.

Andrew watched her kick her feet back to life. "You're welcome to stay here tonight, you know."

"It'll take me five minutes to get home on the transport," she said dismissively. "Anyway, why are you being so nice to me? Dinner and a holovid, and now you're offering to let me sleep over?" She frowned. "I don't need your pity, Andrew."

"And you won't get it," he said, raising himself onto the sofa next to her. "I promised your sister I would look out for you, and I'm a man of my word."

L'Naan rolled her eyes. "When are you two going to realize that I'm not a kid anymore? I don't need anyone looking out for me."

"If you say so," he said, leaning back against the sofa cushions. "What do you think our parents are doing right now?"

"Probably talking about us."

"I hope my dad doesn't tell Admiral Janeway how I accidentally deleted yesterday's sensor logs." He felt the judgment inherent in L'Naan's eyes and added quickly, "We had a back-up." He yawned again.

"Okay, Drew, I can take a hint," L'Naan said, rising once more.

"Hey, kid," he called seriously as she made her way to the door. "Stay for the night."

L'Naan turned around to look at him. "Why?"

"Because you've spent the last month alone. The least you can do is spend one night with a friend." He paused. "I'm worried about you."

L'Naan's hands balled into fists at her side, but she felt a lump rising in her throat. She nodded. "Can we watch a different vid, though? That one was really boring," she said, moving back toward the sofa.

Andrew could hear the emotion in her voice, and he nodded slowly, stretching his arms around her. "Of course, little sis," he said, stealing Miral's nickname for her as he pulled her close, "anything you want."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Galor IV, Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence, 2400**

It had been one month since L'Naan Paris had arrived on Galor IV and several since she'd seen the Q she named Charlie. In some respects, she was living out a dream she'd had since she was nine. She had already learned more about positronic matrices in a few weeks than she'd ever thought possible. But her heart wasn't in it as it would have been a few months earlier. As much as she loved school and being on her own, L'Naan still thought about Charlie and the night she'd kissed him while they were floating in space.

As a teenager, Miral had gone through a succession of boyfriends. None were serious – it was clear to L'Naan in hindsight that Miral had always been enamored with Andrew. But Miral had still put a great deal of energy into her appearance, her ability to flirt and attract interested parties, her sexual prowess. Miral had been, in short, popular.

L'Naan had not. Her first kiss was Jeremy Powell, the son of her father's friend on the Enterprise, but it was really more about experimenting and his fascination with her than her own attraction to him. She was a late bloomer in that sense. She thought her first year at university was probably the time to change. She could sense that at least one or two of her classmates were interested in her. Miral told her to get out more, to try to make friends. But the memory of being told that she was needed by Charlie, of kissing him, kept coming back to her mind. It was a juvenile kiss, really, just four pink lips pressed briefly together, but it was the only kiss that ever made her melt.

Charlie had presented her the story of the Q's impending demise and the need for her to save them, and L'Naan had agonized over what to do before deciding to agree. She'd burned bridges with her best friend from high school, and her sister was exploring space on a starship. And then Charlie disappeared, too.

Left alone, L'Naan had had to rethink her future – hence Galor IV and her present situation, working on emotional subroutines for a Vulcan android.

"Why does he need emotional subroutines if he's Vulcan?" her lab partner Jenari asked, wielding a plasma torch a little too freely.

L'Naan carefully removed the tool from Jenari's hands. "Because Vulcans aren't devoid of emotion; they have severe emotions that they keep in check."

"So we're going to all this trouble to program an android to respond emotionally, so that we can add more subroutines to suppress those emotions with logic?"

"Yes," L'Naan told her. "That's what will make him seem real. Haven't you ever met a Vulcan?"

Jenari shrugged with a seductive look in her eye. "I prefer Klingons."

L'Naan smiled politely. "I've got my eye on someone else right now."

Jenari looked at L'Naan, scrutinizing her. "You're hiding something about this person."

"It's…I can't really talk about it."

"This person has hurt you."

"Okay, Jenari, stop reading my emotions. Isn't that considered bad manners on Betazed?"

Jenari returned her attention to the diagnostics console in front of them. "Sorry, L'Naan. I know I have a tendency to come on a bit strong, but, you know, if you need a friend to talk to…"

L'Naan nodded. "I'd like that."

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Starfleet Headquarters, Office of Admiral Kathryn Janeway**

Chakotay grinned when he saw Kathryn in her dress uniform. He always did like her in that thing. His sister Sekaya caught his eye and shared his smile. He was just glad she'd made the long journey to Earth to be present.

Phoebe Janeway put her arm around Chakotay's shoulder. "Well, Professor, I guess this means you won't be a bachelor anymore. No more wild nights with students."

"It's disappointing, definitely, but I'll try to restrain myself," he joked, still smiling with dimples.

"Let's get the show on the road," Kathryn said impatiently, yanking Chakotay away from her sister by the forearm. "It's thirty years in the making, after all."

"Okay," Admiral Hastings agreed. "Do you want to say anything to each other?"

Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other and laughed. Somehow they had forgotten to discuss that.****

**_  
Delta Quadrant, New Earth, 2372_**

"_I think we need to define some parameters, about us," she said._

"_I'm not sure I can define 'parameters,'" Chakotay replied, "but I can tell you a story, an ancient legend among my people. __It's about an angry warrior who lived his life in conflict with the rest of his tribe, a man who couldn't find peace even with the help of his spirit-guide. For years he struggled with his discontent. But the only satisfaction he ever got when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his tribe, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself. One day he and his war party were captured by a neighboring tribe, led by a woman warrior. She called on him to join her because her tribe was too small and weak to defend itself from all its enemies. The woman warrior was brave and beautiful, and very wise. The angry warrior swore to himself he would stay by her side, doing whatever he could to make their burden lighter. Her needs would come first, and in that way the warrior began to know the true meaning of peace."_

_Kathryn blinked slightly, her voice threatening to betray her. "Is that really an ancient legend?"_

"_No," he admitted, "but that made it easier to say." _

"I'll go first," Chakotay said. He took a deep breath. "Kathryn, when I first met you, I thought you were the most naively idealistic woman I'd ever met. As I got to know you better, I began to see that your idealism was rooted in a strong sense of equality and justice, not unlike my own. We share values. Over the years you've become my best friend, and my greatest joy has been sharing my life with you."

"Oh, Chakotay," she whispered, fighting the urge to cry.

"It's your turn," he prompted, pleased that he could still move her after so many years.

"Right. Well, what can I say? You are the kindest, funniest, warmest man I've ever met, and I can't imagine a day without you. Phoebe?" Her sister handed her a small gold ring, which she slid onto Chakotay's finger. "Accept this ring as a token of my undying love."

Chakotay caught her hands and held them in his own. Phoebe handed him a matching ring, and he put it on Kathryn's finger. "Accept this ring as a token of my undying love."

"I'm glad we didn't do a whole event," Kathryn murmured as they kissed.

"Me too," Chakotay agreed. "But we have a lot of subspace messages to send now."

* * *

**USS Galileo, Private Quarters of Ensign Miral Paris**

"Hello, Drew," Miral said softly, touching her hand to the screen in front of her. "I miss you. It's been two whole days since the last time we talked."

"I miss you, too," Andrew said. "How's work?"

"I think Lieutenant Sani is starting to notice me."

"How could he not?"

"How about you and your dad?"

"He is the worst commanding officer ever," Andrew complained. "He made me rerun four diagnostics and rewrite two duty reports last week."

Miral smiled. "He's just grooming you for a promotion and making sure no one can accuse him of nepotism."

"He's been offered captaincy," Andrew told her. "Command of the Rhode Island."

"Is he going to take it?"

"I don't think my mom wants him to."

"Why not? She could live on the ship with him."

"No argument from me. I think it would be great for both of them," Andrew agreed. "You talk her into it."

"I just might."

"I saw your dad yesterday," he continued. "Does he ever change?"

"What do you mean?" Miral asked eagerly. "What did he do?"

"Well, all he wanted to talk about was his deep-sea adventure holoprogram."

That made Miral smile. "My shore leave for the wedding has been approved. How many guests do we have so far?"

Andrew bit his lip. "Well, Reg Barclay's on this Voyager reunion kick, so…one hundred people."

"No," Miral insisted. "No way."

"Miral, what am I supposed to tell people? That they can't come?"

"I don't want a Federation summit. Just close friends and family."

"That's who's coming," he informed her. "Can I help it if – " He consulted a padd in front of him. "If Lieutenant Commander Doug Bronowski considers himself family?"

"Bron-what? Who the hell is that?"

"I don't know, but the point is that these people are interested in attending. I don't see how I can say no."

Miral stuck out her tongue at him. "And are any of _our_ friends coming? Teddy? Olnar? Soraya?"

Andrew cringed. "Nobody can get shore leave."

"Great."

"It gets worse," he began slowly, holding up another padd. "The Klingon attendees."

"No," Miral said forcefully. She crossed her arms. "Don't they know we're not doing any of the rituals?"

"For the sake of maintaining peace between the Federation and the Empire?" Andrew suggested. In truth, he was just as annoyed as she was that their upcoming wedding was spinning out of control, but with Miral on the Galileo, he was left to handle the plans himself. He was doing the best he could, and he didn't think she fully appreciated it.

"Drew…"

"Miral," he said seriously, moving closer to the monitor, "I don't like it either, but I want to marry you. I don't care if we do it alone in a cave or in the middle of a session of the Federation Council. I just want to be with you."

Miral tipped her head and sighed. "You always say just the right thing."

* * *

**Earth, Marseilles, Chez Sandrine**

It took Harry's eyes a minute to adjust as he walked into the dimly lit bar. It hadn't changed much since he'd first seen it, as a holodeck program, nearly thirty years earlier. What had changed was them. When Tom summoned him to Marseilles, he was surprised. Chez Sandrine had been Tom's refuge when he was a very different person. They'd given up on the program after a few years on Voyager as Tom's life began to take shape because it reminded him of who he had been – a person he no longer wanted to be.

When Harry had asked his friend about the choice of venue, given that history, Tom had explained that there was something very important they needed to discuss, and it could only be done somewhere tied to the origins of their friendship. Since Harry was the first friend Tom had ever taken to Sandrine's (albeit a holographic version), it seemed like the fitting place for their confab.

Harry hovered in the middle of the room until he spotted his wife and friends at a small table behind the pool table. He nodded in their direction and headed toward them.

The quintet at the table stopped talking as he took a seat. Harry could tell he had been the subject of their conversation, and he didn't like it. "What's going on?" he asked with suspicion.

"Nothing, love," Libby said as they kissed each other's cheeks. "How was your day?"

"You were talking about me," Harry accused.

"Hardly."

"B'Elanna?"

"Okay, Harry," B'Elanna said, leaning forward across the table, "if you don't take the Rhode Island, you're an idiot."

"Libby!"

"I'm sorry, Harry," his wife said unapologetically, "but they strong-armed me."

"We did no such thing," Icheb corrected.

"Actually," the Doctor explained, "Admiral Janeway told Reg, and Reg told Icheb and me, and I think it's a great idea."

"Andrew told Miral," Tom explained, "but he said you were probably going to turn it down because you didn't think Libby wanted you to take it."

"And Miral sent me a message chastising me," Libby continued. "You can imagine my surprise. I had to explain to her that you lied to Andrew."

Harry couldn't believe the rampant gossip that had been going on behind his back. His eyes narrowed slightly.

Tom took a slow sip of his gin and tonic. "Command of your own ship, Harry. You have to do it."

"Why did you tell Andrew I didn't want you to accept?" Libby asked.

Tom and the Doctor exchanged a look, mutually agreeing to stay out of the conversation.

"You don't, I know you don't," Harry said to his wife.

"That is simply not true. You decided that before you even asked me how I felt."

"And what are you going to do with me dispatched on a scientific mission to the Typhon Expanse?"

"Harry, I didn't marry a Starfleet officer without expecting that you'd be gone a lot." She adjusted the silverware on the table in front of her to steady her emotions. "Your dream was always to be the captain of your own ship."

"Can we please talk about this at home?"

Libby shook her head firmly. "No, we'll discuss it right here, with our friends. It's been nice living in San Francisco, honey, but it's time to get back out into space. It's what you've always wanted."

"Don't tell me you're scared," B'Elanna taunted.

"I'm not scared," Harry protested feebly.

"Sure," she said, drawing the syllable out.

"Andrew and I get to work together."

"And he hates it," Libby informed him candidly.

Harry turned to her in surprise, and she nodded. He looked at his friends, who also nodded.

"Does everyone know this but me?"

"Perhaps in your efforts to turn him into a good officer," Icheb suggested, "you've been a little too rigid with him."

"Says the regulation-quoting Borg," Harry muttered.

"Andrew thinks it's a great idea for you to take the Rhode Island," Tom added. "At least, that's what Miral says."

"All right," Harry snapped. "I didn't know you invited me here to gang up on me." He looked around the restaurant. "Does everyone have a drink but me?"

Tom smirked. "I'll get you something. What do you want?" Harry shrugged. "I'll surprise you."

"Since I seem to be out of the loop," Harry said, his voice still revealing his annoyance, "is there anything else going on that I should know about?"

"Admiral Janeway and Chakotay got married." The Doctor tried to sound casual, but it was quite clear he delighted in being the only one who knew.

"When did that happen?" Libby asked.

"Last week." As the Doctor glanced around the table, he realized they looked a little hurt that they hadn't been informed. "It was a very informal ceremony in the admiral's office," he quickly explained. "Only their sisters were present."

B'Elanna shook her head. "I can't believe he did that without telling me. I'll kill him."

"Kill who?" Tom asked as he returned to his seat. He slid a glass of beer across the table toward Harry.

"Chakotay. He and Janeway got married last week."

"No kidding." Tom looked at the Doctor. "This could add a whole new dimension to the Voyager holoprogram."

"I doubt Admiral Janeway would like the program to feature aspects of her romantic life," Icheb interrupted. With the hint of a smile on his face, he added, "Unless, of course, aspects of _your_ romantic life were also included."

"Yeah," Harry added. "It's only fair."

"Oh," Tom quipped, "then I suppose we'll have to add more content to the 'Ensign Kim Encounters the Planet of the Killer Brides' chapter."

"The program should be limited to official missions," B'Elanna said authoritatively to her husband and the Doctor. She had had enough of her personal life exposed while she was on Voyager; the last thing she wanted was to have it shared with the rest of the world through a holoprogram.

"How about it, Harry?" Tom asked, rubbing B'Elanna's knee under the table to show her he was only joking. "What's your next mission? Are you going to accept the Rhode Island?"

Harry took a long drink of his beer. Libby was right: he had always imagined being the captain of a starship one day, and being offered the Rhode Island meant his dream was finally coming true. He knew Libby was happy for him, and he couldn't actually imagine her stopping him. It was unfair to use her as an excuse, and he'd apologize at home later for that. It was just the fact that he'd been planetside for so long that made him settled, insecure, afraid to take on a new adventure. It was un-Starfleet of him, he realized.

He nodded slowly, and as his friends toasted him, he smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Galor IV, Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Dormitory Room of L'Naan Paris, 2400  
**

As the computer announced an incoming transmission, L'Naan carried her robotic cat to her desk. She settled cross-legged on the desk chair with the cat nestled in her lap and activated the screen.

It was Miral, calling as she often did after she'd finished talking to Andrew. When she was at the Academy, Miral wanted little to do with her little sister, and her recent attentiveness had not gone unobserved by L'Naan. She recognized that Miral was concerned for her happiness and was trying her best to support her from a distance.

"What's that?" Miral asked, pointing toward her lap.

"It was my first project here," L'Naan explained. "His name is Schrödinger."

"You named your cat Schrödinger? Cute," Miral said with a roll of her eyes. "Little sister, can I tell you a secret? I'm really happy that the plans for the wedding got foiled."

"I always thought you'd want to have a big wedding with a lot of guests – be the center of attention, get a lot of gifts."

Miral shook her head. "Not these days, little sis. Ensign Paris likes to work hard and talk to her fiancé every night when her shift ends."

"Sounds thrilling," L'Naan said with sarcasm.

"Actually, it's wonderful," Miral told her with sincerity. "So are you going to be able to make it? It's not going to interfere with your studies?"

L'Naan shook her head. "Semester break."

"Well, I'm glad," Miral said with a small smile. "It wouldn't be the same if you weren't here. How's the android?"

L'Naan's eyes lit up. "It's amazing, Miral. We constructed its face, so it finally looks like a person."

"What did you name it?"

"Well, my lab partner Jenari doesn't really know anything about Vulcans, so she said I could name it," L'Naan explained. "And after some careful consideration, I decided to name it after my favorite: Commander Vorik."

"Vorik!" Miral laughed. "I always knew you had a crush on him!"

"Don't tell Mom," L'Naan begged.

"I won't. I can't wait to hear all about it, though." She cocked her head to the side. "How's your social life?"

L'Naan opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. She looked down at the cat and stroked its fur.

"What is it?"

"Um, Miral," she began quietly, "remember Charlie?"

Miral nodded. "How could I forget? Did he contact you again?"

L'Naan looked around the tiny, tidy dorm room that had become her home over the semester and sighed. "Miral, I know it's stupid, but I just can't stop thinking about him."

"Oh, little sister, I know he made you feel special, but that was months ago. You might have to accept that he's not coming back."

"So that's it? He turns up and begs me to save the Q Continuum and then disappears again? Was it all some kind of cruel joke to see if I'd say yes?"

"It might have been," Miral said gently. "The Q often do things for their own amusement at our expense."

"But I thought he liked me." L'Naan's voice was barely a whisper.

Miral ached at seeing her sister so heartbroken. L'Naan had always been level-headed, kind, and understanding. She was exactly the kind of person who would want to give her life for others if it made sense to her. Miral hated thinking that Q had taken advantage of that quality.

She decided to try to fix the situation the best way she could. "L'Naan, didn't you tell me your lab partner was flirting with you?"

"Jenari? She flirts with anything that moves," L'Naan said. "She'll probably flirt with Vorik once he's able to talk. I'm not attracted to her, though. We're just friends."

"Isn't there anyone at school you're interested in?"

"Not really."

"Well, find someone. You need to date. You need to have sex."

"Miral!"

"I mean it, L'Naan. You can't keep pining after some long-gone Q."

"I guess you're right," L'Naan reluctantly agreed. "Look, I need to finish my homework. I'll see you in a few weeks?"

As the image of Miral faded from her computer monitor, L'Naan looked around her room. She didn't think it would work, and she knew she would feel stupid if it failed, but for good measure she had to try. "Charlie?" she called out tentatively. She waited a moment. Nothing happened. With a sigh of resignation, she put the cat on the floor and started her homework.

* * *

**Student Cafeteria**

L'Naan decided that, though she was smarter than her sister in many ways, when it came to socializing, Miral usually knew best. Although she still missed Charlie, if he wasn't going to come back, then she needed to try to move on. As she and Jenari sat at a table in the cafeteria with a few of their classmates, she half-heartedly listened to them joke about their Grazerite professor while she plotted her next move.

Her target, she determined, was going to be Brez, the Haliian sitting next to Jenari. He was interested in her, she knew. She caught him sneaking glances at her every day in the lab. He wasn't unattractive, L'Naan determined. In fact, he looked pretty good. And the way he handled a submicron scanner was downright sexy.

When they finished eating lunch, Jenari suggested a walk around campus before their afternoon classes began. L'Naan looked pointedly at Brez as she declined Jenari's offer, and fortunately he took the hint.

Once their friends had all left the table, Brez leaned forward slightly in his seat with a smile. "I didn't think you'd noticed me," he said earnestly.

"I had someone on my mind for a long time," L'Naan confessed. "But it's over now."

"You and Jenari are working on the Vulcan android, right?" She nodded. "Why did you choose a Vulcan? Were you thinking that by avoiding emotional subroutines, the project would be easier?"

"No, actually, we've created emotional subroutines, and now we're working on a series of logic subroutines to suppress them."

Brez's eyes widened slightly. "That's going to take you all year!"

"I think I can rise to the challenge," L'Naan said confidently. "What species did you choose?"

"We're making a joined Trill," he said. "I thought programming him to call up memories from previous hosts might be a worthwhile experiment."

_An engineer who doesn't shy away from the tough stuff. I like that._

"Have you named yours yet?" L'Naan asked.

Brez shook his head. "He doesn't have a linguistics database yet, so I didn't see the point."

"Don't you think it's important to name him so you can connect with him?"

Brez shrugged slightly. "I guess I hadn't thought about it."

"You have to," she insisted. "What's a good Trill name?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'll have to do some research on it."

"I'll help," L'Naan offered. "That is, if you want me to."

"On one condition," he said. "You have to agree to have dinner with me – alone – tonight." Brez raised an eyebrow pointedly, enticing her to answer.

L'Naan's heart didn't exactly skip a beat, but she had to admit she was amused. She smiled. "It's a date."

* * *

**Earth, Brazil, University of Sao Paulo, Office of Professor Chakotay**

The fact that B'Elanna Torres had never set foot inside the archaeology wing of the Brazilian university didn't stop her from marching down the corridor as if she was in command. She sought out Chakotay's office, and when she found it, she didn't bother to knock on the door.

Chakotay, who was working behind his desk, looked up as she burst in. "You didn't tell me," he said accusatorily.

"You didn't tell me you and Admiral Janeway had gotten married," she said back. She stepped into the office, closing the door behind her, and took a seat in front of his desk. "What didn't I tell you?"

"That my goddaughter has a boyfriend."

"L'Naan has a boyfriend?"

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

B'Elanna shrugged. "I found out from the Doctor that you got married in secret, so I came here to give you a hard time about it."

Chakotay laid down the padd he was reading. "It wasn't really a secret," he explained. "It just wasn't a big event. It took all of five minutes."

"But I wanted to walk you down the aisle," B'Elanna teased with a smile. Chakotay grinned back at her. "What's this about my daughter, and how do you know before I do?"

"She sent me a subspace message talking about her android project. Do you know she has a robotic cat?"

B'Elanna nodded as she slouched in his chair. "Schrödinger."

"Well," he continued, "I stopped reading about halfway through the message as she described in elaborate detail how she sculpted the shape of her android's ears, but toward the end I caught a paragraph about some Haliian classmate named Brez. She didn't say anything explicitly, but I could read between the lines."

B'Elanna's eyebrows rose involuntarily. "She didn't say anything to me. I wonder if she's told Miral yet."

"She didn't seem completely infatuated," Chakotay said delicately. "Just…curious."

B'Elanna nodded in confirmation. "Miral's been encouraging her to date. She thinks it will help L'Naan get her mind off Q." She sat up. "Well, I didn't come here to talk about teenage angst. I came here to take you out to celebrate."

"Best offer I've had today," Chakotay said, rising. He held out his elbow, and B'Elanna linked her hand around it as they headed out.

* * *

**San Francisco, Starfleet Academy, Flight Simulation Training Center**

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Tom said, locking his hands behind his head, "what are you doing? You can't realign the magnetic constrictors while you're chasing a ship at warp four."

The shuttle rocked violently as they sustained fire, and Harry gripped onto the console at the helm as he glared at Tom, still sitting peacefully in his seat. "You might help," he called over the din of the red alert.

Tom glanced down at the panel in front of him. "Your reactor temperature is approaching 3.1 million Kelvin."

"Reroute power from the weapons array," Harry barked grimly. "We'll just have to hope we can outrun them."

Tom complied. "No effect." They took another phaser blast from the enemy ship. "Shields are down to seventy percent."

Harry pounded a fist onto the console. "Computer, end simulation." The shuttle returned to its inactive state, and Harry adjusted himself in the pilot's seat. "You're not being helpful, you know. What kind of simulation was that, anyway? When will the Rhode Island ever be in a wormhole under attack by the Romulans with its magnetic constrictors out of alignment?"

"You asked me to give you the real Tom Paris tutoring," his friend reminded him.

"I asked you to recertify me according to Starfleet protocols," Harry argued, "not quiz me on my tactical abilities."

"It's the Typhon Expanse, Harry. Strange, spooky things happen there."

Harry laid his hands on the console in front of him. "Look, if Starfleet thinks I can handle any 'strange, spooky things' out there, then it would be nice if my best friend did, too."

Tom took a good look at his friend for a moment and realized he was right. He nodded. "Computer, begin simulation Paris-delta-four. This one is strictly about maneuvering abilities, I promise."

Harry nodded and began working the helm controls as their shuttle pitched inside a subspace eddy. "Now this is what I'm talking about," he said with a grin.

Tom smiled back at him. "Hold on to your hat, Har. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

"Let's see how fast we can ride this wave," Harry said. "Increasing speed to one-half impulse."

"It's a little like driving a car on a gravel road," Tom said with a laugh as they bounced up and down in their seats. "You're doing great. Twenty seconds till we clear." The panel in front of him beeped. "Hold on, we've got a problem."

"Tom, come on, are you kidding me?" Harry checked the display in front of him. "We're losing inertial dampers."

"You should call for an all-stop," Tom warned. "At least slow down."

"Not this close to normal space," Harry said.

"We're going to end up plastered against the back wall with this kind of turbulence."

"Hold on, I'm diverting power from the main deflector."

"It won't work!" Tom shouted as the computer initiated an automatic red alert. The shuttle was buffeted beyond control, and he gripped the console to stay in his seat. "You're going to have to –"

He stopped abruptly as the red alert cancelled and the shuttle resumed its course in normal space. He looked over at Harry. Harry just looked back at him, raising an "I told you so" eyebrow.

"You want another simulation?"

Harry shook his head. "I know I'm ready now."

* * *

**Galor IV, Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Dormitory Room of L'Naan Paris**

L'Naan idly tapped her computer console, frowning at the equations in front of her. Of all the things she and her lab partner had thus far attempted, something as innocuous as blinking was turning out to be the most difficult.

_Stupid double eyelids. If only we'd picked a species with a less complicated ocular structure._

The blinking itself wasn't the problem; it was attempting to make it appear random and natural that was proving tricky. Copying the subroutine for human androids didn't work as well as they'd hoped. It merely called attention the Vulcan android's inner eyelid, which made him appear, as Brez had told her bluntly, "freaky."

Brez. His very presence in her life confused L'Naan.

As the younger sister, she all too often compared herself to Miral – she couldn't help it – but she liked to think she had enough perspective to make a fair comparison. Miral was prettier and more outgoing. But L'Naan intuitively understood people better. It didn't necessarily win her more friends, but it meant that those few she had were deeply connected to her. Miral had a corps that was significant to her, but there were also rotating extras who moved in and out of her life with a kind of ease L'Naan never quite understood.

Then there were their differences in sexuality. As often as Miral complained about their parents' undying attraction for each other, there was nothing prudish about her. She carried herself with a kind of physical and sexual confidence that demanded notice. L'Naan envied that confidence on some level. It was strange for her to think someone wanted her. She just couldn't see herself as an object of desire.

She also didn't understand the allure of sex in the first place. From the way Miral and Lenaris had described it, it was the most wonderful feeling – a burning desire eventually leading to the sensation of total pleasure and, maybe afterward, naked intimacy. L'Naan didn't burn for Brez, and while their encounters weren't wholly unpleasant, they couldn't be described as "total pleasure." And even though they'd been physically naked often enough, L'Naan had never felt that more than her body was exposed to him. Just as Miral had encouraged, she'd made a good faith effort to find someone with whom she was compatible, and it hadn't been what she had expected.

"You're just not doing it with the right person," Miral told her.

_Who else am I supposed to be doing it with?_

The sound of a slight cough reminded L'Naan that she was not alone, that the person causing her emotional turmoil was currently stretched out on her bed. She tapped her computer screen off and looked over at him thoughtfully.

Brez was lying on his stomach with his chin resting on one of his arms while the other hand held a padd in front of his face. He looked comfortable on her bed, in her room, as if he felt he belonged there. L'Naan envied his ignorance.

Brez caught her staring at him and mistook it for interest. He chucked the padd on the floor and turned onto his side to face her. "Hey," he said lightly. "I'm not getting anywhere."

"Me neither."

"What are you working on?"

"Blinking subroutines. You?"

"Respiration. Want to trade?" L'Naan shook her head. "Come over here," he said in a slightly husky voice.

L'Naan complied, not because she shared his lust but because she couldn't think of what else to do. She slid onto the bed beside him, and Brez deftly rolled on top of her. As they kissed, he stroked her hair in a way that told her it was more than just sex for him – he obviously cared for her. She put her arms around him and pulled his weight down on her, hoping that if they bridged the physical distance between them, she would feel emotionally closer, too.

Their kissing grew more insistent, and they helped each other remove their clothing. As Brez entered her, he kissed her shoulder, whispering gently, "I think I love you."

L'Naan didn't reply but turned her head to the side, eyes squeezed shut, and waited for it to be over.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Galor IV, Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Student Cafeteria, 2400**

"You look like you spent the night being tossed around in a plasma storm. What happened?"

L'Naan Paris shrugged and took a sip of her orange juice. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Her lab partner Jenari bit into a piece of toast noisily. "I'm famished," she declared, gulping down her own orange juice before she had finished chewing. "Are you going to eat that?"

L'Naan looked down at her breakfast. "No."

Jenari greedily slid her friend's plate toward herself. "I woke up this morning with a huge appetite."

"Jenari, can I ask you something?" L'Naan asked. "I know we haven't known each other for that long, but can we talk about sex for a minute?"

"Happily," she answered with a mouth full of food. "Last night Charys and I were in the middle of doing our homework when we suddenly just – "

"No," L'Naan interrupted. "That's not what I meant." She sighed. "You've – you've had sex with a lot more people than I have. Do you – do you love them all?"

"Not necessarily."

"And does that make them feel used?"

Jenari set down her fork, realizing it was going to be a serious conversation. "I think sometimes people have sex because they care about each other, and sometimes they just do it because it feels good. There's no right or wrong reason, as long as everyone involved has the same intentions. In my experience, it's when someone expects more than someone else that people start getting hurt."

L'Naan contemplated this for a moment, and then she caught Jenari staring intently at her. She rolled her eyes. "I know you want to read me, Jenari, so just go ahead."

"It would make these conversations we have a lot easier," the Betazoid pointed out, closing her eyes. After a moment she opened them. "I sense anxiety. You're worried you've hurt Brez."

"He told me he loves me last night," L'Naan admitted with a sigh.

"And you don't love him." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, I don't," L'Naan admitted aloud for the first time. She happened to glance toward the doorway and caught him approaching their table. "Kahless, here he comes. Pretend we're talking about our lab work." As Brez took a seat next to her with a sweet smile on his face, L'Naan hoped she did a better job of hiding her feelings from the telepath she was sleeping with than she did from her empathic lab partner.

"Good morning," he greeted them both.

"Hi, Brez," Jenari said in a friendly tone. She resumed devouring her breakfasts.

Brez looked down at the padd lying on the table near L'Naan's orange juice. "What are you reading?"

"Data's biography."

Brez shook his head. "We build androids all day, and you want to spend your free time reading about them?" He picked up the padd and studied it for a moment. "Looks a little dry, L'Naan."

She snatched it back from his hands. "Actually, it's riveting," she replied. "You should try reading it some time."

"I did once," he confessed. "But I stopped after three chapters. I thought there would be more about his adventures on the Enterprise, but it just kept going on and on about his quest to become human. I didn't see the appeal."

L'Naan placed the padd on the table, possessively keeping her hands on top of it, and bit her lip.

* * *

**USS Galileo, En Route to Takara Sector, Observation Lounge**

"And it has been the privilege of captains for centuries," Captain Michaels continued. He paused for a breath and turned to the two ensigns in front of him. "I understand you have a few words you'd like to say to each other?"

Miral Paris nodded and turned to Andrew Kim. She took his hands in her own and, voice shaking, said with practice, "Andrew, you have been my best friend since the day you were born – whether that was ten years ago or twenty." Andrew chuckled, and Miral felt herself relax a little. "I never thought I'd fall in love with you, but now I can't imagine how else I could spend the rest of my life other than married to you."

Andrew smiled, warmed by her words. "Miral, you are everything I could have ever hoped for, and being with you has made me a better person. I look forward to sharing my life with my best friend."

L'Naan handed them each the rings she'd been guarding. As Miral put the ring on Andrew's finger, she noticed how his hand trembled. She clasped it, smiling, feeling even more charmed by his nerves. Andrew shifted the smaller ring from his palm to his forefinger and thumb, at which point he dropped it onto the floor. Harry closed his eyes with a slight groan until Libby elbowed him sharply. Tom and B'Elanna exchanged a long look. Andrew, L'Naan, and the Vulcan engineer standing next to her knelt down on the floor to find the ring. Miral just smiled awkwardly at her captain and waited for the moment to pass.

At last Andrew retrieved the ring and righted himself, tugging on his dress uniform to straighten it. He tried to recapture the moment. "Miral Paris, I may always be a complete klutz, but I am a klutz who adores you." He reached for her hand and put the ring on it. Her face hadn't completely softened, so he decided to pull out his showstopper. "_Vaj mamuvchuq_."

"What did you say?" she asked in surprise.

"_Cha' moj wa_," he continued with delight as he saw the change in her eyes. She was his.

"_Tuq moj cha'_," she finished, "my _par'Mach'Kai_." She looked back at Captain Michaels, signaling that the impromptu Klingon portion of the ceremony had effectively concluded.

"Ensign Miral Paris, Ensign Andrew Kim, with the power vested in me by Starfleet Command and the United Federation of Planets, I now pronounce you husband and wife," he declared. "Congratulations."

Those who had gathered in the observation lounge applauded as Miral and Andrew shared their first married kiss. After a moment, the couple turned to the crowd, expectation written all over their young faces.

L'Naan was the first to step forward. "Now I don't have to be nice to you," she whispered in Andrew's ear as she hugged him. "Now you're family." He shook his head with a smile as he squeezed her back.

B'Elanna turned to look at Tom, still processing the fact that her baby girl had just become a married woman. Tom responded by taking his hand under her jaw and pulling her in for a kiss of their own. They were interrupted, however, when the captain approached to introduce himself.

"I'm sorry our change in mission altered their wedding plans," Captain Michaels said, shaking B'Elanna's hand. "I hope they're not too disappointed, but I'm glad you were able to get here."

"Actually," B'Elanna told him, "the plans for the ceremony in San Francisco were getting a little out of control. This worked out better." She nodded toward Harry. "Have you met Captain Kim?"

"Captain Kim?" Michaels repeated. "You just took command of the Rhode Island."

"She's still getting some repair work done at Deep Space Four, actually," Harry said as they shook hands. "We pull out as soon as I get there." His hand let go of Michaels' and found its way to Libby's back. "This is my wife, Libby."

"Hi," she said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you," the captain said graciously. He gestured to the sea of dress uniforms surrounding her civilian attire. "You look a little out of fashion."

"Oh, trust me," Libby told him. "I'm quite used to being the only non-officer in the room."

"It's going to become your standard way of life now, Libby," B'Elanna reminded her.

"I'll be serving as a civilian scientist on the Rhode Island," she explained to the captain. "Anyway, thank you for marrying my son."

"My pleasure. It's the best part of the job, as I'm sure Captain Kim will discover. Why didn't they want you to marry them?"

"Oh," Harry said, "they wouldn't have liked that at all. That's why we're grateful you were able to accommodate them." He winked at Tom. "I hope my daughter-in-law hasn't been too much trouble."

"Actually," Michaels said, "Ensign Paris is a fine officer. She may be in line for a promotion in the next year."

"Only a year for a promotion to lieutenant j.g.?" Tom said, raising his eyebrows toward Harry. "And she hasn't even been lost in the Delta Quadrant." The newly minted Captain Kim smiled back at him, unfazed.

"I beg your pardon?" Michaels asked.

"It's nothing," B'Elanna assured him. "Just a little inside joke among old friends."

* * *

**Guest Quarters 16-7A**

As L'Naan took off the emerald velvet dress Miral had asked her to wear to the ceremony, there was a flash of light in her guest quarters. A modesty reflex kicked in, and she held the dress over her nearly nude body.

"Charlie!" she said with surprise to the Q who had just materialized. "Why do the Q have an utter talent for appearing when people are naked? And where have you been for the last six months?"

"Six months?"

"It's been six months since the last time I saw you," she explained wearily. Modesty gone, she dropped the dress to the floor and pulled on her pajamas. "You missed the wedding."

"No, I didn't."

"Charlie, there were only about twenty people there. I'm sure I would have seen you."

Charlie snapped and turned into the Vulcan engineer who'd helped her rescue Miral's ring. "Look familiar?"

Trying not to look too thrilled at his return, L'Naan climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over her lap. "Why?"

"I told you I'd never been to a wedding before. And I know how much you like Vulcans."

"Probably a good idea that you were in disguise. You might have caused trouble with the captain. What do you want, anyway?"

Charlie flashed himself into pajamas and into bed next to her. To her total annoyance, L'Naan found she _wasn't_ annoyed by his presence, and Charlie knew it. "I wanted to see if you had a made a decision yet."

"About joining the Continuum?" L'Naan frowned. "That was a long time ago, Charlie. I haven't heard from you or seen you since then. I started the Daystrom Institute. I started dating someone."

"Yes, but you don't love him."

"You don't know that," she insisted.

He scoffed. "Brez? The Haliian? You're mildly satisfied that he has cranial protrusions like you, and you find it arousing when he handles a submicron scanner, but that's it." He looked at her closely. "And the sex bores you."

"Charlie!"

"So what are you studying?"

"You know all of that, but you don't even know what I'm studying?" she asked testily.

Charlie shrugged. "We Q know what we want to know."

"I see." L'Naan flipped onto her side, showing her back to him.

Realizing she was upset, Charlie flashed himself on his knees on the other side of the bed, so that his face was near hers. "You're angry."

"Wow, omnipotence comes with mighty powers of observation."

"Why?"

"Because you hurt my feelings." L'Naan awaited a response, but his face was blank. "You made me think we were friends. You made me think I was special. And then you just disappeared. I had to explain to my family why I was still going to the Daystrom Institute instead of, you know, becoming immortal. It was embarrassing."

Charlie put a hand on her cheek for a moment, then turned it over and stroked her face with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I was watching a red giant burn off helium, and then it was time to come here."

"You've been watching a red giant burn off helium for six months?"

"I guess so. I wanted to see it go supernova."

"You can't actually watch that happen," she informed him with a dubious look on her face. "I mean, a red giant could have a lifespan of one million years."

Charlie shrugged. "I'm immortal. What do I care how long it takes?"

L'Naan sat up, taking his hands in her own. "Charlie, you have to remember that time is different for me. When you didn't come back, I thought maybe it was another Q joke at humanity's expense."

"You know it wasn't a joke. The Continuum needs you." He clutched his stomach as it growled loudly. "I think I'm hungry."

"Did you eat anything the entire six months you've been gone?" L'Naan demanded. He shook his head. She threw off the blankets and marched over to the replicator. Remembering how much he had enjoyed their afternoon on Mykonos, she ordered a plate of feta, olives, and figs. "Charlie, you can't just disappear on me," she continued as the food materialized. She held out the plate for him. "I have doubts and insecurities. I'm human."

He accepted the food, looking her in the eyes. "Then maybe we should change that." He snapped, and with a flash of light he was gone. The plate clattered to the floor, and the olives rolled across the gray carpeting.

* * *

**Private Quarters of Ensign Miral Paris**

"I can't believe we just got married," Miral said, wrapping her arms around Andrew's waist.

Andrew placed his hands on each side of her face and gently caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. "Me either," he said. He was vaguely aware that they'd gone back to her quarters – though he wasn't sure how. Slowly, though, he began to perceive the room around him, and he couldn't help himself from declaring, "Miral, honestly! This place is a mess!"

Ordinarily Andrew's complaints about her sloppiness annoyed Miral, but this time she felt far too euphoric. She laughed easily and gestured around the room with a sweep of her arm. "Consider it a wedding present. I thought you'd enjoy cleaning it up for me."

"Is this how you live when you're away from me?" He stooped to collect a rumpled uniform. "It's a good thing you married me. You need me."

"Are you going to be able to pay attention to me, or do I have to wait for you to clean my quarters before I can have you?"

Andrew grinned. "Open the champagne, and I'll have the place neat and tidy before you get finished pouring two glasses."

"Wait, before you do that." Miral opened one of her dresser drawers and pulled out a _d'k tahg_ knife.

"Don't tell me. You're a black widow." He sidled up to her and gave a phony sigh. "I should warn you that I'm Starfleet. I'm not worth any latinum."

"I know I said I didn't want to do any Klingon rituals," Miral said, ignoring his joke, "and I didn't – not in front of everyone. But I thought maybe this one?"

"You know this is a biohazard, right?"

Miral nodded. "And incredibly primitive. And I still want to do it."

"Why the change of heart?"

"L'Naan's been talking about what the Federation means to her," she explained. "And it got me thinking. Your parents, for instance. Your dad comes from Asian ancestry, and your mom Israeli."

"Not really. No one on Earth can claim pure ancestry. Our families have moved around and intermarried for generations."

"I know, but once upon a time, your parents wouldn't have been able to marry. And a little over a hundred years ago, my grandparents couldn't have married – the Empire and the Federation were mortal enemies. And now," she continued, pulling his arms around her, "here we are – a complete hodgepodge of DNA between the two of us. And then you recited Klingon at our wedding."

"You liked that, didn't you?" Andrew said, nuzzling his face to her cheek.

"I really did," she murmured into his ear. She bit his earlobe lightly. "Excellent pronunciation, by the way."

"I taught myself," he said, kissing her neck below the ear.

Miral pulled slightly away from him and took the knife out of its protective sheath. "Anyway, the point is that we spend our lives celebrating how the Federation has brought together all of these different people in peace, but do we lose sight of their individual cultures and traditions? I think I want to do something traditional," she explained, "to remember where I came from – that I'm Klingon – because everyone considers me a hybrid every other day of my life." She ran the blade quickly across her palm, gasping slightly, and then held the knife out to him.

Andrew cut his own hand before he could think twice about it. Then he pressed her bloody palm to his own, their fingers interlaced. "_JiH dok._"

"_Maj dok_," she said, leaning forward to kiss him. "Thank you, honey."

After a moment, Miral pulled their hands apart and frowned at her hand. "Okay, this isn't romantic anymore."

"Nope," he agreed, rubbing his own palm, "just sticky and painful."

Miral pulled a personal medkit out of the same dresser drawer. "Dermal regeneration?" She ran the tool over her cut and then did the same for Andrew, holding his hand upward with her fingers. When the wound was healed, she raised his palm to her lips and kissed it lightly. Then they wove their fingers together again and resumed kissing.

"Hey," he reminded her, "you promised I could clean this mess up."

* * *

**Observation Lounge**

"What do you think everyone else is doing?" Harry asked, setting a glass of beer in front of Tom.

Tom gratefully accepted it and drank. "Well, I'd like to think that Miral and Andrew are doing something innocent, like cleaning her quarters, but that's pretty farfetched."

"Cleaning on their wedding night? Come on, Tom."

"B'Elanna nearly shoved me aside to get a look at the new pattern buffers this ship has," Tom continued, "so I'm sure she's still in the transporter room. And L'Naan's probably talking to that guy from school."

"L'Naan has a boyfriend?" Harry asked with mild interest.

Tom shrugged as he took another sip of beer. "Miral encouraged her to start dating, but I think he's a lot more interested than she is. Actually, the last time I saw her excited about someone was…"

"Q," Harry finished. He looked around the nearly empty observation lounge as he took a drink. "Do you think we'll become grandparents any time soon?"

"Let's not rush things, Har."

"You're not getting any younger."

"Neither are you, Captain."

Harry grinned. "Hey, I can still play volleyball with the best of them."

Tom nearly snorted beer out of his nose. "You'd better stick to kal-toh."

* * *

**Guest Quarters 16-7A**

As L'Naan bent down to pick up the food that had spilled on the floor, there was another flash of light, and Charlie reappeared. She rose to her feet, holding the plate in her hand and looking at Charlie inquisitively. Then she sighed. "Charlie, this isn't going to work. You understand time differently because you aren't mortal, but for me – well, it's been a long time, and a lot has happened." She set the plate on the dining table. "Do you remember when I kissed you?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, how did it feel?"

"Nice," he answered quietly.

L'Naan couldn't help smiling. Her flamboyant Q had turned reticent. "Then why did you disappear on me?"

"I told you I was watching a red giant."

"I know, but couldn't you tell that I wanted to see you? That I missed you? I need a better way to communicate with you."

He waved two fingers in front of her face. "There."

"There what?" she asked a little testily. "And stop doing _this_." She imitated his gesture and a glass of champagne appeared in her hand. "What the hell? Charlie, send it back."

Charlie smiled. "I didn't do it. You did. You must have wanted it."

"What do you mean?" She waved the glass, and it disappeared. "Stop doing that!"

"I'm not doing anything," he insisted. "Calm down and think about it."

L'Naan focused on her hand. It certainly looked and felt the same, but she realized with alarm that Charlie wasn't pulling a joke on her. Just as he'd said, the answers came to her head. "You've given me Q powers."

Charlie nodded slowly. "I talked it over with the Continuum."

"They finally approved of your idea," she said with a rush of understanding. "The last time you talked to me, your father said the Continuum didn't like your plan. You've persuaded them." She looked into his eyes. "You weren't watching a red giant for the last six months. You were pleading your case to the Continuum." He nodded. "Why did it take so long?"

"They can be very difficult when they want to be," he explained. "But finally they sent me back here with their approval."

"And where did you go just now?"

"I asked them if, since they approve of my plan, we could give you powers. They agreed."

"You were gone for two seconds," she said with bewilderment. "This difference we have in the concept of time is really going to get on my nerves."

"Not anymore," he assured her. "Watch. I'll leave, and you try to find me."

L'Naan grabbed his arm before he could flash himself gone again. "I'm not playing stellar hide-and-seek with you." She looked down at where her hand was holding his arm, and then her eyes slowly found their way up to meet his. "More of the Q are dying now. The situation has gotten worse. That's why they approved of giving me powers."

"You're a Q now," Charlie told her carefully, watching her face with anticipation.

L'Naan's eyes widened as she tried to process what had happened. She removed her hand from his arm and looked it. It now held unlimited control of space, time, and matter. The realization terrified her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: USS Galileo, En Route to Takara Sector, Observation Lounge, 2400**

"You two look awful," B'Elanna Torres commented as her husband and Harry Kim brought their food from the replicator to her table.

"Thanks, B'Elanna," Harry said dryly, rubbing his forehead.

"How late were you up?" she asked Tom, who was looking especially pale and bleary-eyed, though, she noted as he helped himself to a forkful of her breakfast, his appetite was as robust as ever.

"I think I went back to our quarters at…0400?"

B'Elanna looked across the table to Libby Kim, shaking her head. "I didn't even hear you. I must have been sound asleep."

"An evening of looking at transporters wear you out?" Tom teased.

"What were you doing up so late, anyway?" Libby asked.

Before either man could answer, L'Naan Paris came sauntering cheerily up to their table. "Good morning!" she declared, hovering at the end of the table.

"You're in a good mood," B'Elanna observed through a bite of her eggs.

Tom rose from his chair. "Do you want a raktajino, squirt? Or something to eat?"

L'Naan took a seat next to her mother, still smiling. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry." Tom sat back down.

"How was your night, L'Naan?" Libby asked. "Did you find something fun to do after the ceremony?"

L'Naan made a strange sound, and her face contorted slightly, but she tried to recover with some grace. "Well, I had quite a lovely evening," she told them carefully.

If she had any hope of not telling them what exactly she'd been up to the previous evening, it was shattered when her long-lost Q friend Charlie decided to materialize in the observation lounge in front of their table.

"Hi, everyone, I'm back!"

"Oh no," L'Naan said quietly, anticipating the chain of events that would follow. Across the room two security officers stood up, phasers in hand. One of them hit his com badge and called for an intruder alert. Her parents rose to their feet, stunned. Harry and Libby looked at each other in surprise. The doors to the lounge opened, and two more security officers entered with phasers drawn. Before she realized what she was doing, L'Naan slid her hand in front of her face, and everyone in the observation lounge froze.

"Nice work," Charlie said. "I thought it would take you a lot longer to figure out how to do that."

L'Naan looked around the room in horror. Charlie waved a hand in front of Tom's face and laughed, but L'Naan cringed. "I didn't mean to," she said. "It was just reflex. I knew those security officers thought you were an intruder." She put her hands on her hips. "Why did you just show up? Why didn't it occur to you to use the door?"

Charlie shrugged. "I'm not used to thinking like that."

"Well, now my sister is going to be in trouble with Captain Michaels."

"Why?" he asked, taking a sip from B'Elanna's mug. "It takes just like I remember."

"Stop drinking my mom's coffee!" She took the mug from his hands and set it back down on the table. Then she put her hands squarely on his shoulders, forcing him to be serious and pay attention to her. "Can I send us all back in time a few seconds?"

"Of course."

"Then you have to go! Let me tell them about you first, and then come through the doors." She frowned at the collar of his uniform. "And get rid of three of those pips. You'll call too much attention to yourself if you try to be a captain."

"Fine," he pouted, "but I'm not leaving until you give me a kiss." He puckered his lips melodramatically.

L'Naan rolled her eyes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "Now go away."

Charlie flashed out of sight, and L'Naan thought carefully about what she wanted to happen. She then waved her hand, and, to her delight, the people in the room began to move again. The security officers who had entered with phasers were gone, and her parents were still sitting.

"Are you going somewhere?" B'Elanna asked. "Stay and eat breakfast with us."

Crisis averted, L'Naan sat down again. "Uh, Mom, Dad, Harry, Libby, I have something to tell you that you're not going to like. Something…big."

* * *

**Earth, Indiana, Bloomington, Janeway Residence**

"So you're just an old married guy now, huh?" L'Naan asked with a smirk as she took a sip of hot cocoa.

The smirk was Tom Paris's all the way, and it made Chakotay smile. "I guess so, kid. And what about you? Rumor has it you've been romancing a certain Q."

L'Naan tried to hide her grin as she blew on the steaming cocoa. "Come on, Chakotay. The Q don't have any need for romance. They're omnipotent." She let one leg dangle casually off the edge of the porch and stared across the expansive yard.

Chakotay's eyes followed hers, and he let himself admire the wilderness that surrounded his home. Even though winter was approaching, the weather was still tolerable at twilight, the perfect time for sitting on the porch and drinking hot cocoa, just as they were doing. For talking about this and that. He only hoped he'd be able to get a little more "that" out of L'Naan before she went home.

"The Q may not need romance," he said carefully, "but that doesn't explain why you – a human – blush every time I mention Charlie's name."

"Ah!" she groaned as she felt her face turn hot. "Why do you always have to tease me and pry into my life?"

"I'm your godfather. It's my job."

The door to the house opened, and Janeway stepped out. "Young Miss Paris, to what do we owe this honor?"

She lifted her mug. "Just here for the free refreshments, Admiral."

"I was about this close to getting her to confess her love for Q Junior," Chakotay said holding his index finger and thumb a mere centimeter apart.

Janeway lifted up her palm in apology. "In that case don't let me interrupt. I just wanted to see if our guest was staying for dinner."

Chakotay jumped to his feet in alarm. "You're not cooking?"

"No, no," she assured him. "We'll have that vegetable stew you made yesterday." At his concerned look, she put her hands on her hips. "Chakotay, I am capable of reheating food."

He sat back down beside L'Naan on the edge of the porch, letting his own feet swing over the side. "Dinner in thirty minutes?" he called over his shoulder. Janeway nodded and went back into the house.

"Hey, Chakotay, want to see what I can do?" L'Naan said excitedly. She remembered having said that to him as a small child, demonstrating a cartwheel or some other trick she'd learned, and it made her delighted to do it again with unbridled power at her fingertips. "See that tree over there? The one that still has leaves?" She waved her hand lackadaisically, and suddenly the red leaves turned brown and fell to the ground.

"How did you do that?"

L'Naan leaned her head on his shoulder. "Guess what happened on the Galileo? I became a Q!"

* * *

**Paris, Place de la Concorde, Office of the Federation Liaison to the Klingon Empire**

B'Elanna leaned down over her assistant's shoulder, pointing to the guest list on his computer screen. "Those two can't sit by each other," she said, shaking her head. "Their houses were once blood enemies. And the Federation ambassador is bringing his three children and their spouses, so we'll have to readjust the seating at his table."

Anel input the changes. "When you took this job, did you think it would involve party-planning?"

"No way," she answered honestly. She scrutinized the details on the computer screen. "The rest of it looks okay for now. Transfer it to a padd, will you? I want to take another look at it when I go home tonight."

The door to the office opened, and they both looked up. Chakotay entered, hands on hips, staring at B'Elanna.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"Anel, keep working on my remarks for the reception," she said calmly to her secretary. She nodded for Chakotay to follow her into her private office and pulled the door closed behind them. "Let's both resolve not to turn up at each other's offices unannounced from now on. Now what didn't I tell you?"

"L'Naan."

"Oh." B'Elanna took a breath, sizing Chakotay up. "Sit down, old man," she instructed. "You look like you sprinted here all the way from Indiana." She led him to the blue sofa by the window. "Did she come to see you?" Chakotay nodded. "I don't know what happened. Apparently, Charlie came to visit her on the Galileo and gave her Q powers. She showed them to you?"

"She seemed proud," he said with concern.

B'Elanna nodded in confirmation. "She thinks it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to her. It's completely changed her. But she swears she's going to finish school as planned."

"And you believe her?"

B'Elanna frowned. "No, but what am I supposed to do? She's an adult. Besides, she's more powerful than me."

"What do you think the Q have in store for her?"

"That's just it, Chakotay," she said seriously. "To her this is all a game, but I know – and you know – that there's always an ulterior motive with them. Always some kind of catch."

* * *

**Space**

"This is not fair!" L'Naan shouted through the lump in her throat. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"'Fair' is a concept that's only important to humans," Charlie explained patiently.

"I _am_ a human!" she protested.

"No," he corrected, "you're a Q now. This is how it works. Every Q has to make this decision. It's too dangerous to live among mortals all the time."

"You didn't tell me on purpose!" she accused, her throat growing hoarse. "I didn't even ask to be made Q!" Charlie tried to soothe her by putting his hands on her, but she recoiled as well as she could in the vacuum of space. "Don't touch me!" she bellowed in her best angry Klingon voice.

Charlie sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Q?" he called. "I need a little help here."

Q Senior materialized next to them. "Well, Junior, look at what a mess you've made of this."

"I didn't make any mess, Dad," he argued. "She's just a little upset."

"I told you this was a bad idea."

"The Continuum disagrees," Charlie reminded him. "Besides, I was just completing the timeline."

"'Completing the timeline, completing the timeline,'" the older Q mimicked with a roll of his eyes and a stifled yawn. "I'm tired of that story, Junior."

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Listen," Q said to L'Naan, whose rage was beginning to smolder, "I had to make this choice, Q had to make the choice, Q had to make the choice, Q –"

"Your examples don't really resonate when everyone has the same name," she interrupted, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Well, that's how it is. So you have to decide: give up your powers forever, or join the Continuum forever."

"I want to give up my powers," L'Naan answered immediately.

"You can't," Charlie explained with a groan. "We've been over this. The timeline. The continuation of the universe."

"Then I have no choice? Or I have the choice, and you're asking me – for the welfare of the Q – not to make it?" She didn't quite understand. When Charlie had first presented her with the idea of joining the Continuum, she thought it meant being made immortal and continuing on with her life as planned. Now she understood that she could not remain with her family, that she would only be allowed to visit them occasionally, and that she'd have to quit school. At first glance, if she had a choice, it was an easy choice to make: she wanted out of her deal with the Q.

But she couldn't ignore Charlie's pleas that she was needed to help him reinvigorate the Continuum. In that case, why was she even being given a choice? It seemed to her that if they were offering her the possibility of relinquishing powers and returning to an ordinary life on Earth, it couldn't possibly be to their own detriment. After all, as she'd been reminded on numerous occasions, the Q weren't known for their generosity – and certainly not altruism.

Watching her grapple with the moral dilemma was too much for the senior Q, and he began to laugh.

"Q, be nice," Charlie urged.

"Why are you laughing at me?" L'Naan cried wildly, as her rage once again flared.

"Because, my dear L'Naan, for all your grooming, all your intellect, all the power that's been bestowed upon you, you still don't understand." He shook his head in disappointment and amusement before he vanished.

"What did he mean by that?" L'Naan asked.

Charlie frowned. "Just think about it," he said with obvious disappointment. "You already know the answer."

"Qness," L'Naan realized with a sigh. "I have to demonstrate Qness."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Earth, San Francisco, Starfleet Headquarters, Office of Admiral Kathryn Janeway, 2400**

She stood at the window overlooking the bay, hands clasped behind her back. A ship was moving slowly out to sea, and she was fantasizing what it would be like to be aboard when her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Ensign Wyatt poked her head inside. "Ma'am? There's someone here to see you."

"Who is it?" Janeway asked, still gazing out the window.

"L'Naan Paris, ma'am."

Janeway turned toward the door with a smile. "By all means, send her in."

L'Naan took three small steps into the admiral's office, her hands clasped in front of her. "Good afternoon, Admiral."

"Hello, Miss Paris. What can I do for you?"

Without asking permission, L'Naan crossed the room and took a seat in front of the desk. Janeway bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. It was a perfectly human thing to do, but perfectly un-Starfleet. A break from the protocol that usually surrounded her in San Francisco. She followed and sat on the other side of the desk.

"Admiral," L'Naan began in a small, soft voice, "I was hoping you had some time to talk to me about the Q."

"You're trying to decide whether or not you should forfeit your powers."

"How did you know?"

"Oh, L'Naan," Janeway admonished, "who hasn't told me? Both of your parents, your sister, Andrew – they've all contacted me in the last forty-eight hours."

L'Naan shook her head. "I should have known." She sighed. "Every time Charlie appears, there's this collective groan in the room. I've noticed you don't respond to him the same way."

"That's true," Janeway admitted. "I might roll my eyes a little, but I suppose I'm fond of him."

"Everyone keeps giving me a litany of adjectives to describe the Q – nefarious, duplicitous, notorious. You don't see them that way?"

Janeway gave a crooked smile. "More like self-righteous and Machiavellian, but that comes with having greater power than others. Before the Prime Directive was established, I'm sure there were plenty of species who felt that way about the Federation." She raised an eyebrow and wagged a finger in L'Naan's direction. "I've gotten to know Charlie and his father. They're eager to please us in a way."

L'Naan nodded, accepting the admiral's judgment of Charlie. "I was hoping you could tell me more about what happened the first time you met Charlie. Could you go over that experience with me again?"

"I can do you one better." Janeway reached into a desk drawer and retrieved a padd, which she slid across the desk to L'Naan. "Ship's logs and my personal logs from all three Q encounters."

L'Naan caught the padd and activated it. Her eyes quickly skimmed the words before rising to meet the admiral's. "How can you give this to me? Isn't this a violation of some regulation?"

"It'll all be public once your father and the Doctor and Reg finish the Voyager holoprogram. Admiral Paris declassified the logs."

"Grandpa?" L'Naan asked with concern. "He doesn't know about this, does he?"

"About you and the Q? Not that I know of."

L'Naan tapped the data padd against her palm. "Thank you, Admiral."

Janeway held up a second padd. "I think this one will interest you as well. Not many people know about it. Commander Riker of the Enterprise under Captain Picard."

"I've heard of Riker," L'Naan said. "That must have been before Captain Klees took command."

"Years before. Q offered Riker the same thing Charlie's offering you now."

L'Naan's eyes widened. "What happened?"

Janeway handed her the padd. "Read it for yourself. It didn't work out." She detected a slight quivering of L'Naan's lower lip. "This upsets you?"

"I – I thought I was special."

"L'Naan," Janeway said tenderly, "you are special."

"To my family, I suppose. I guess not to the Q. So what happened to Riker?"

"He found the powers isolated him from the people he cared about, and he asked Q to take them away." Janeway watched L'Naan carefully for a moment. "There are a few things you have to remember when you're a Starfleet officer, L'Naan. You should always approach every situation skeptically – it makes you a better scientist and tactician."

"But?"

"But sometimes," Janeway continued, leaning forward slightly, "you just have to take things on faith. After that day you came attacking Charlie in my backyard, I told Chakotay there was a connection between the two of you. I don't believe Charlie would intentionally try to hurt you."

"So 'malicious' isn't one of the adjectives you'd give him?"

Janeway laughed. "In Charlie's case, no. He might not have even known that his father had made a similar offer to another human in the past. I'm sure to him you are special."

L'Naan considered this for a moment, skimming the padd. _There's nothing here about the Q losing omnipotence. _There was a critical piece of information that Janeway didn't have, she realized. In the admiral's mind this was all another Q maneuver, not a life-or-death scenario. "Well, I guess I have what I need." She rose out of the chair. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Wait a minute," Janeway called. L'Naan continued toward the door. "L'Naan Paris, stop. Sit down."

L'Naan hovered at the doorway for a moment. She turned around. "Admiral Janeway, with all due respect, I'm not Starfleet. I don't have to obey orders."

"I'm not ordering you," Janeway said. "I'm asking you, as one friend to another, to sit down and talk to me."

"All right," she conceded. She returned to her chair.

Janeway noticed that L'Naan was trying to avoid her gaze. "There's more to this than you're telling me."

"I don't want you to get into any trouble with Starfleet Command."

"I am Starfleet Command."

"I don't want to tell you anything that would violate Charlie's privacy and make you have to take action," L'Naan tried to explain. "But, yes, there's more to the story than I'm telling you."

"Does this have to do with Riker?"

L'Naan knew she had the upper hand, and she decided to do something she had never done before. She was going to lie to the admiral's face. _For a good reason,_ she reminded herself. _To protect Charlie._

"I know it's stupid of me, Admiral, but they told me I was the first person they offered omnipotence to. I'm just disappointed to learn that I'm the latest pawn in their game of 'let's have fun with humanity.'" She traced the arm of the chair with her forefinger the way Miral did when she was upset and hoped she was giving the admiral a convincing performance.

"It's usually your sister who's the dramatic one," Janeway noted carefully. "I'm surprised at how upset you are."

L'Naan sneaked a glance at Janeway to see if she really believed her. She decided to press on. "Admiral, do you think I should do it? Join the Continuum?"

"I think they'll expect you to demonstrate Qness before you're allowed to join."

L'Naan looked up sharply. "How did you know about that?"

"How did you?" Janeway asked, revealing her cards. "Why don't you tell me whatever it is you and Charlie have been hiding from me for the last six months?"

L'Naan sighed as the curtain fell on her performance. _Oh, well, I've never been much of a liar anyway. That was always Miral's area of expertise._ "Q Senior paid me a visit." She noticed a slight flush cross the admiral's face at the mention of his name. "Yes, he's still attracted to you." Janeway's face reddened even as she scowled. "It's okay, I know how much you love Chakotay."

"L'Naan," the admiral said bitingly. "Stop doing that."

"I'm really sorry," L'Naan said honestly. "I can't stop. I just look at people and know things about them. Qness?"

"Something Charlie's father explained to me. It's in my log. Before the Continuum would accept Charlie back when he was a teenager, he had to demonstrate Qness."

"How did he do it?"

"He offered his life for Icheb's."

"No wonder he keeps asking about Icheb!" L'Naan leaned back in the chair for a moment, processing. "That's Qness? It seems so human. I thought the Q didn't believe in sacrifice."

"Don't tell Charlie this," Janeway said in a conspiratorial tone. "But I think the Q are a lot more like us than they want to believe."

_Oh, Admiral, you have no idea._

* * *

**Torres-Paris Family Residence**

"What are you reading?" Charlie asked as he materialized in L'Naan's bedroom.

L'Naan, no longer startled by his sudden appearance or disappearance, looked up from the padd on her lap. "It's Data's biography. He was the first sentient android. He served in Starfleet."

"Under Captain Picard."

"Did you know him?"

"No, I wasn't born yet, but Q made him laugh once."

L'Naan smiled the way she always did when Charlie provided further evidence that the Q had hearts. "I would have loved to have seen that. It was Data's greatest dream to be human."

Charlie sat on her bed, and L'Naan shifted over to make room for him. "What's so interesting about his biography?"

It was a question she'd been asked more times than she could remember, and the response she always gave inevitably failed to persuade. L'Naan looked at him with wide eyes and explained softly, "It's really about how we define machines and how we define humanity, trying to find answers to why we exist."

"I'd love to read it."

L'Naan tipped her head sideways as she looked at him. He was telling the truth, she knew it implicitly, and it made her smile. "I knew you'd come back," she said happily. "Somewhere, inside, I just had this belief that I'd see you again."

"After you kissed me, how could I not?" Charlie asked with a grin.

"You know humans do a lot more than that when they like each other, don't you?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Of course, but what's the point? I'm not going to get pregnant and tote around a fetal version of myself."

It was L'Naan's turn to roll her eyes. "Charlie, sometimes you have to keep your mouth shut. You really –" She had to stop as she began to laugh. "You really just don't know how to say the right thing at all."

"You'll teach me," he said, ignoring her laughter. "We have plenty of time. So where are we going tonight?"

"Well, I thought I'd show you where I go to look the stars – or where I used to, before I met you. When I was little, my dad used to sneak us onto the roof so we could look at the constellations. It's not quite the same as seeing them from space, but…"

"No," he said reassuringly, "I want to understand how you see the universe."

* * *

**Galor IV, Daystrom Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Dormitory Room of L'Naan Paris, 2401**

Having celebrated the winter holidays on Earth with her family, L'Naan flashed herself back to Galor IV two days before her second semester was to begin. She submitted a formal letter notifying the school of her intention to discontinue her studies with a tinge of regret.

As she packed up her personal belongings, her lab partner Jenari followed her from one end of the dorm room to the other. "I can't believe you're leaving," she said. "Of all the people in our class, I never would have thought you'd be the drop-out."

"I am _not_ a drop-out," L'Naan said as she placed a pile of folded clothing into a duffel bag. _I wish I'd never taught you that phrase._ "I have a project bigger than Vorik to work on, and I can't do it here."

"Can't you at least tell me what it's about?" Jenari asked.

"I can't, I'm sorry. But you can read my emotions. What do you think is happening?"

Jenari concentrated on her for a moment. "It's something really big, and you're really excited about it. But there's something else – apprehension. You don't know how it's all going to work out, but you're eager to try."

L'Naan nodded. "So be happy for me."

"What do your parents think about you dropping out?"

"Jenari, quite using that expression!"

"Sorry."

L'Naan continued to empty her dresser drawers into the duffel bag. "My mother, as my sister would say, 'went Bolian.'"

"What does that mean?"

_Oh, Jenari, I'm going to miss how completely out of touch with the galaxy you are._

"It's an inappropriate colloquialism," L'Naan patiently explained. "She freaked out. She panicked. She got upset. Flew off the handle."

"I get the idea. You know, Brez is pretty upset that you broke up with him."

L'Naan resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Brez will be fine. We weren't really meant to be together, anyway."

"Where are you going to go? The next passenger ship to Earth isn't due for three more days."

"Uh, I've arranged my own transportation." She zipped her duffel bag and looked at her friend. "I really enjoyed working with you last semester. I wish I could stay around long enough to hear Vorik speak."

Her robotic cat Schrödinger poked his head out from under the bed, and L'Naan felt a rush of guilt at having forgotten him. She knelt down to retrieve him.

"Jenari, I'm not going to be able to Schrödinger with me. Will you take care of him? And promise me you'll love him and Vorik?" L'Naan petted the cat for a moment before passing him to Jenari.

"I promise you I'll treat them both like you would," Jenari assured her. "I'm going to miss you. Keep in touch, okay?"

L'Naan nodded and said cryptically, "I'm fairly certain I'll be able to talk to you any time you think about me."

Jenari tossed a puzzled look over her shoulder as she left the room.

L'Naan slung her bag onto her shoulder and took a deep breath as she looked around the empty dorm room. For as long as she could remember, this was what she'd wanted to do. She'd gotten her dream. And she was about to give it all up. She snapped her finger and vanished from Galor IV.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Earth, San Francisco, Starfleet Academy, Introduction to the Borg Lecture, 2401**

If there was one thing L'Naan Paris had learned from watching the Q, it was that their ability to show up uninvited and unannounced was a constant source of aggravation for humanoids. She had the good sense to flash herself into the corridor outside Icheb's lecture hall so that she didn't cause an incident. She could hear him inside, droning on about nanoprobes, and as she peeked through the window, she saw that only a handful of cadets were actually listening. The rest looked as though they were waiting for class to end so they could bolt. Feeling slightly sorry for the boring ex-Borg, L'Naan couldn't resist snapping her fingers in his direction. Icheb instantly became livelier, and the cadets, who were now listening with rapt attention, laughed at one joke after another that rolled off his tongue.

After she had been watching for a few minutes, she felt a hand gently touch her shoulder. "What are you doing here?" she asked, turning to Charlie.

"I was going to say the same thing to you," he said. He peeked in the window. "You found Itchy!"

L'Naan nodded, sizing him up. "He's the reason the Continuum accepted you, isn't he? You demonstrated Qness when you saved his life."

"He's the best friend I ever had."

L'Naan tried to put her hands on her hips, but the large duffel bag of belongings from her dorm room at the Daystrom Institute got her in way. With some annoyance, she made it disappear. "Charlie, he's the only friend you've ever had."

"Well, still…You came here to ask him about Qness, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"He can't help you."

"At least he can tell me more about you."

"Watch out, the class is ending." Charlie snapped just as the cadets started to approach the door. In the blink of an eye, the cadets were gone. L'Naan looked at him worriedly. "Don't worry – I just suspended us in time for a few seconds while they left. They didn't notice anything." He opened the door to the room, calling as he entered, "Itchy!"

If he didn't have an eidetic memory, Icheb might have been confused, but fortunately his recollection of the week twenty years earlier when he'd made a friend who had given him that nickname was crystal clear. He turned toward them with a smile. "Q Ball!"

"Oh my god," L'Naan muttered as she followed Charlie into the lecture hall.

* * *

**USS Rhode Island, Captain's Ready Room, Near the Typhon Expanse**

Captain Harry Kim's ready room was everything L'Naan expected it to be. It was tidy to a fault – Andrew definitely took after his father in that respect. There was a saxophone resting upright on a stand in the corner, and on the desk were several framed pictures – one of Harry and Libby together when they were much younger, one from Andrew and Miral's wedding, and one of Andrew, Miral, and L'Naan as children lying in a field. L'Naan picked up the last image and looked at it. She could only identify herself by the brow ridges; she must only have been about two years old. She didn't remember the picture being taken and didn't understand why it deserved a place of honor on Harry's desk.

She was still looking at the image when the ready room doors hissed open and Harry entered. He nearly jumped when he realized someone was in his ready room, and his hand flew to his com badge. He only recognized L'Naan a split-second before he called for security.

"L'Naan Paris! What are you doing here?" he demanded angrily. She was quite certain she had never heard that tone of voice coming out of him.

"Don't be mad, Harry," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"How the hell did you get here?"

"I flashed myself here."

"Computer, seal doors to the ready room, authorization Kim beta-three-four-seven." He put his hands on his hips. "As the daughter of two Starfleet officers, you should know better than turn up unexpected on a starship!"

"I do," she insisted. "I know the Q always cause problems when they just show up places. That's why I came here instead of coming to the bridge."

"L'Naan, if anyone sees you, I'll have to make an entry into the log explaining your presence."

L'Naan dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "I'll just erase their memory of seeing me, Harry. Relax." She plopped down on his sofa. "I need some advice."

With a clenched jaw, Harry sat down on the sofa next to her. "What kind of advice?"

"I have to demonstrate Qness," she explained. "I need to do something really extraordinary, something larger than life. Any suggestions?"

"Showing up on a ship in the middle of nowhere doesn't qualify?"

"Har-ry! That's like breathing for a Q."

Harry held his hands out in front of him and took a breath. She looked and sounded like L'Naan Paris, but Harry was quite certain he'd never seen her so annoyingly self-righteous before. All of her charm seemed to have been replaced by megalomania.

"I'm not a megalomaniac, Harry," she corrected. "Megalomaniacs are pathologically inclined to believe they control the world. I don't think I can control the world."

"That's a relief," he said, more than a little unsettled that she could read his thoughts so easily.

"I can control the universe," she finished.

Her superiority complex prevented her from seeing the disgusted look on Harry's face. Fortunately for Harry, he was summoned to the bridge.

"Can I watch you in action?"

"No. You need to get off my ship."

"Please? I'll turn myself into a glob fly."

"No," he said again more forcefully. "Go home. If you want to talk to me, send me a subspace message." He strode out of the ready room.

"Nice talking to you, too, Harry," she called after him as the doors closed.

Charlie materialized next to her on the sofa. "What were you thinking?" he asked. "Did you really think he'd be able to help you?"

"Why do you keep following me everywhere?" she asked crossly.

"I've been asked to look after you," he explained. "For someone who was able to figure out the great mystery of the Q's demise, you're sure taking a long time to decide what you want to do about it."

"I want to help," L'Naan said honestly, touching his arm. "I really do. I just don't understand the Continuum. If you're dying, how can you demand that I demonstrate Qness? Shouldn't you just take me now? Let me help now?"

Charlie shook his head. "It wouldn't save us. You have to have Qness first."

L'Naan sighed. "Charlie, I'm not sure I can prove my Qness."

"You will," he said with confidence. "But not like this."

* * *

**Space**

Since she had acquired her Q powers, L'Naan found that space was her favorite place to go when she needed solitude or time to think. She thought with some irony that if she wasn't already destined to save a race of omnipotents, she should rethink joining Starfleet.

Contemplating Charlie's words, L'Naan flashed herself to a small asteroid in the Selebi asteroid belt. She took a seat, letting her crossed legs hang off the edge of the rock, and tried to work through the pieces of Qness the way she would a complex algorithm.

There were, as she saw it, a few options. Since "Q Ball" had demonstrated Qness by offering his life for Icheb's, she could do something similar. She didn't have any dead or dying friends; fortunately, Miral's short Starfleet career hadn't yet led to any fatalities either. She contemplated bringing back one of her deceased grandparents, but she knew it would complicate the timeline and cause her family grief. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure that raising the dead was possible.

Perhaps something larger in scale was in order. Maybe eradicating the Borg. But she knew people rescued from the Borg – like Icheb – and wouldn't want to kill any drones who might someday be turned back into productive members of society. Deassimilation seemed like a better alternative. She could restore all drones to their former individual selves. As she tried to think through the plan, however, she could hear Q Senior's voice in her head warning angrily, "Don't provoke the Borg!"

She knew from her mother and cousins that there was a small movement on Qo'noS calling for the Klingons to join the Federation. The Peace Initiative, as they called themselves, hung banners that said things like, "Today is not a good day to die" and "Better to live with honor than to die for it." Perhaps she could encourage the growth of the movement, make the Empire part of the Federation. _And put Mom out of a job, petaQ._ Years of growing up in a Starfleet home also told her that interference was probably not the best solution.

If it was sacrifice the Continuum wanted, she didn't understand why they didn't accept the number of sacrifices she had already made for them. She'd given up her studies. She'd alienated her friends. She'd agreed to devote her life to the Continuum. What more could she possibly sacrifice for them?

"I've demonstrated Qness, Q!" she called into the vacuum of space. "Are you listening to me? I've shown you I'm worthy over and over again!"

There was no response.

* * *

**Jupiter Station, Holographic Laboratory**

"We could be doing this in the comfort of my house, you know," Tom pointed out as he and Reg Barclay leaned over the control console.

"Right," the Doctor added testily, "and I suppose B'Elanna would bring us refreshments every hour and applaud our glorious efforts."

"Maybe we should take a break," Reg suggested. "Everyone's getting…cranky."

Tom let out a breath and stood up straight, massaging his lower back. "It's fine. Let's keep going. We're already behind schedule. My dad's expecting to review a first draft in six months."

"All right," Reg agreed. "We were reviewing the Janeway parameters. Now we've already covered all the scenes in which she visits Voyager in drydock. The next part is for her to recruit her helmsman."

"Great," Tom muttered.

"Tom, if you don't want your prison record to be a part of this program, it doesn't have to be," the Doctor offered.

"It's okay, Doc. I did the crime, and I served the time. It's all in the past now." He gave them a charming smile. "Besides, if a user decides to play the Paris character, they ought to see his whole growth, from start to finish." Thinking of B'Elanna, he added quickly, "Well, we can omit the parts that happen in private quarters."

Barclay nodded and punched a few commands into the console. The lab turned into the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand, and they watched as the Janeway character crossed the grounds to the Paris character.

"Tom Paris?" she called.

"Who wants to know?" holo-Tom asked without looking up.

"Kathryn Janeway. I knew your father."

"Her hands should be on her hips, Reg," the Doctor noted.

"We can fix that later," Reg reminded him. "In this scenario the user is playing her role."

"That was the best day of my life," Tom said a little wistfully. "I didn't know it at the time. But if she'd never made me that offer, I'd never have met B'Elanna or Harry. And I never would have gotten reinstated."

"What happened when you got arrested anyway?" Reg asked curiously. "You were a Maquis?"

Tom nodded. "I was only in Chakotay's cell for a short time. I was really a mercenary, not a Maquis. I didn't believe in the cause the way he and B'Elanna did."

_  
**Marva IV, Unnamed Bar, 2370**_

_Chakotay walked into the dimly lit bar and glowered at the new pilot, who was sitting at a corner table covered with empty glasses. He marched over to him, ready to let him have it._

"_Getting drunk by yourself is not how you should be spending your free time, Paris," he reprimanded, leaning authoritatively over the table. The pilot seemed undaunted. "What's going to happen if we have to make a quick get away and you're too drunk to fly the ship?"_

"_I'm never too drunk to fly," came the cocky reply. "By the way, I told the bartender you'd be paying for my drinks."_

_Chakotay stood up and sighed vehemently. He reached into the small pouch attached to his belt and pulled out a few slips of latinum. He thunked them down on the table angrily. "That's the last drink. Get back to your berth and sleep it off. And don't make me regret recruiting you."_

"_Whatever you say."_

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence**

It hadn't escaped L'Naan that her return from Galor IV had led to a severe increase in household tension. Trying to balance the needs of the Q with the needs of her family, L'Naan agreed to eat dinner with her parents every night. Their family meals had once been raucous and enjoyable, with her father telling jokes and her mother laughing indulgently. She and Miral would bicker, her father and Miral would laugh about something that had happened at the Academy, and she and her mother would discuss the finer points of systems recalibrations with twinkles in their eyes.

For the past three days, however, mealtime had been a semi-silent affair. L'Naan wanted to believe that her father was strained from juggling his flight instructor job and the demands of the Voyager holoprogram and that her mother was worried about the outbreak of a civil war on the homeworld, but she knew the real cause of the tension.

"You haven't touched your food," B'Elanna observed quietly.

L'Naan, hands folded in her lap, looked down at her plate. "I don't need to eat," she reminded them.

"Eat anyway," Tom ordered. "It's a social activity, intended to bring families together." His voice indicated that even he found the idea suspect.

L'Naan obediently picked up her fork and scooped some peas onto it. She raised it to her mouth but couldn't bring herself to actually ingest. Even Charlie was only eating once every few days as the Q disease progressed, and it hadn't really affected L'Naan yet. When she thought neither parent was looking, she set the fork back down.

"How's the holoprogram, Dad?" she asked in a soft voice.

Tom looked at her, and for a second she thought he would cry. Seeing that she was genuinely interested, he answered with some gratitude, "We've finished with all the mission logs. Now we're setting all the individual character parameters so users can choose which senior officer they want to be."

"You aren't going to allow them to be a junior officer?"

Tom tipped his head slightly. "We hadn't thought about it. Why?"

"It might be fun if you pick one or two junior officers and give users the opportunity to portray them. They'll only get bits and pieces of what's going on – it might be more mysterious, more interesting from the lower decks."

"That's a really good idea, squirt."

_Squirt._ Part of her sighed with relief upon hearing the nickname. _Now if only I can get back on Mom's good side._

"If holoprogramming interests you so much," B'Elanna suggested, "why don't you study that instead of artificial intelligence?"

"B'Elanna…" Tom didn't fully support L'Naan's choice to leave the Daystrom Institute either, but he certainly didn't want to keep having the same argument every night.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" L'Naan said, willing her voice to stay even, lest she further upset her mother. "I didn't leave the Daystrom Institute because I don't want to study artificial intelligence anymore. I left because I have to join the Q Continuum."

B'Elanna nearly snorted. "And when do you think that will happen, L'Naan? Your second semester just started. I'm sure it's not too late to rejoin your classes."

L'Naan felt her Klingon temper rising. She pushed back from the table. "Mother, I don't know what else I can say to you. I'm sorry I left school. I'm sorry I'm not becoming an engineer. I didn't ask for this." She stormed out of the kitchen.

"Don't look at me that way, Tom," B'Elanna cautioned before her husband could blame her for L'Naan's outburst.

"She told us she has to demonstrate Qness before she can join the Continuum. She's trying to figure out how. What more do you from her?"

"Are you listening to yourself?" B'Elanna nearly shouted. "You sound ridiculous! She's not doing anything. She flashes herself all over the galaxy all day, and then we all sit in silence at dinner every night. She needs to go back to school."

"You're the one who told me it's not her fault Q made her the offer!"

B'Elanna threw her napkin down on the table. "I'm tired of fighting with you," she said with resignation.

"So am I," he echoed softly.

B'Elanna covered her face with her hands for a moment. Tom moved to her and gently pulled her hands from her face, holding them in his own. "We're on the same team," she reminded them both. Tom nodded. "I just wish she would tell us why this is so important. Why can't she just let this go? There's more to this than she's telling us."

"There definitely is," Tom agreed. "But she's the one who always reminds us that we taught her how important it is for family members to trust each other."

"Do you?" she asked. "Trust her?"

Tom drew in a breath and nodded slowly. He wasn't entirely certain before, but he was starting to understand that he did. L'Naan was very different from the kind of young adult he'd been. She probably understood what she was getting herself into better than he and B'Elanna did when they were her age. "Yeah, I trust her."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Earth, San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf, Caffe de Luca, 2401**

"Why are we here?" Charlie asked as he looked around the café. "Unlimited control of space, matter, and time, and you keep coming to the same coffee shop."

"Give me a break, Charlie," L'Naan Paris said as she took a sip of her raktajino. "I've been a human for nineteen years. It's going to take some time to adjust to other existences." She set her cup down on the table and smiled pleasantly at him. "Besides, this is where I first started liking you."

Charlie returned the smile. "Your parents have already stopped fighting, if you were wondering."

"I wasn't really worried. They never get into a fight with each other that they can't get out of. It's their relationship with me that I'm worried about. They think I'm some kind of drop-out."

"What's a 'drop-out'?"

"Someone who doesn't finish school, doesn't have a job, is an unproductive member of society."

"But you're a Q," Charlie protested. "Do they want you to sit in a lecture hall all day?"

"If they had their way, yes." L'Naan sighed.

"If you would just figure out Qness, this could all be over."

"I know. I'm trying to make some progress on that front." L'Naan took a slow drink. "Unlimited control of space, matter –"

"And time," he added.

"And time," she repeated slowly. She stopped suddenly and looked at him as it dawned on her. "I've already demonstrated Qness."

"How do you know that?"

"Because if I hadn't, you wouldn't have chosen me. It doesn't make sense for the Q to pick some random humanoid and hope she can give them what they need. I've already proven my worth." Her eyes narrowed as she thought through the problem. "The only question is when."

"Very good," Charlie encouraged. "I should report this to the Continuum."

"Inconspicuously, please."

Charlie nodded. He deliberately dropped his napkin on the floor and then slid under the table to get it. L'Naan felt him gently stroke her calf. Then he was gone. A moment later, he was back, and he climbed back into his chair.

"How was that?" he asked.

"You're getting pretty good at functioning in human society," she said with pride.

"Thank you." He settled into his seat with his napkin in his lap.

"All right, go ahead," L'Naan said, reading his thoughts. "You're allowed to do _that_ in front of other humans." Charlie leaned across the table and kissed her on the lips. "I don't know why you like doing that so much. I'm sure the other Q think it's primitive."

"I think it's pleasant," he argued. "The Continuum says they're very proud of you. You're almost there."

"Excellent. Now I just need to figure out when and how." She nodded to his coffee. "Drink up, Charlie. It won't burn you."

He looked apprehensively at the cup before taking a noisy sip. As he placed the cup back on the table, L'Naan couldn't help but giggle at his cappuccino-froth mustache.

"Stop laughing at me and focus," he griped, wiping his mouth. But he was smiling.

L'Naan closed her eyes and tried to think of times in her life when she'd done the extraordinary. She came up empty. Then it occurred to her: her demonstration may have already happened, but that didn't mean she had already done it. The thoughts started flying through her mind in fragmented pieces.

_A dead Q who once described the Continuum as a road in the desert that led to the rest of the universe, then back to the Continuum, in an endless circle. Here is then is later is now._

_Andrew only exists because of Charlie. He was created seven years ago, but he's twenty-two._

_Charlie only exists because of Admiral Janeway._

_Miral was born on Voyager. Mom was only on Voyager because her ship got destroyed. Dad was only on Voyager because Admiral Janeway got him out of prison._

_He was in prison because of the Maquis._

_If he hadn't been a Maquis, he wouldn't have been arrested. _

_Charlie's father saying exploration was not about __mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence._

_If Dad hadn't been arrested, he wouldn't have been in prison. _

_If he hadn't been in prison, he would never have been on Voyager._

The pieces came together to form a continuum. She looked at Charlie and nodded solemnly. She had the answer.

* * *

**Maquis Raider Val Jean, Somewhere Near Selka, 2370**

The alert sounded before Tom Paris was thoroughly rested – or, for that matter, sober – but as soon as he felt the first jolt of a disruptor blast striking the ship, his feet hit the deck and he was on his way to the bridge.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Cardassians," Chakotay replied with annoyance. "We need you at the helm. Try to outrun them."

Tom nodded and slid into the pilot's seat. He began tapping in commands for a series of evasive maneuvers as the ship rocked violently again. Tom felt heat as a conduit somewhere behind him exploded, venting gas across the bridge, but he couldn't afford to look away from his controls.

"We're losing antimatter containment down here!" one of the engineers called over the com system.

"Shields are down to fifty percent!"

"Hail them!" Chakotay ordered.

"No response."

"Did you really think they'd answer?" Seska snipped, stalking across the bridge. "They're not here to negotiate with us, Chakotay! They're here to kill us!"

"Fire phasers," Chakotay instructed coolly. "Try to take out their weapons."

"Chakotay, the de Gaulle's hull is buckling!"

"Get the crew over here!"

"Sensors are picking up three more Cardassian ships closing in."

"I've got a lock on the de Gaulle crew!"

Chakotay looked at Tom. "Get us the hell out of here!"

"I'm trying," Tom muttered. "I'm looking for places for us to hide." He turned in his seat. "Let me go find help on Selka and bring back reinforcements."

Chakotay nodded but added the proviso, "Take Jarvin with you."

Tom sprinted down the corridor to the sleeping berths. Jarvin was still out cold, in spite of the chaos on the ship. _All part of the life of a Maquis,_ he thought grimly. _You learn to sleep however you can._ From the look of Jarvin's disheveled clothing and the somewhat tortured expression on his sweaty face, Tom could tell they'd both spent the previous night in a similar way.

"Jarvin," Tom said, shaking him. "Hey, Jarvin." He tried in vain to rouse him for a minute. "Wake up!"

Jarvin stirred slightly but rolled onto his side, away from Tom.

"What's the matter? You can't hold your liquor? Fine. I can do this without you."

Dodging the incoming Cardassian ships was fairly easy. The shuttle Chakotay had procured for them was faster and lighter than the clunkier Cardassian fighters, and Tom quickly got away from the scene of the dogfight. He plotted the course to Selka to find reinforcements.

_Reinforcements_, he thought snidely. _A nice way of saying 'more terrorists to help us.'_

Chakotay's intelligence had said that the colony was sympathetic to their cause, and Tom felt reasonably certain he could persuade at least one ship to come back with him.

_Let's just hope their ships are in better condition than ours._

Tom kept one hand firmly on the communications controls, ready to take action, while the other scanned the vicinity for other incoming vessels. He knew he didn't have a lot of time before the Maquis raiders would start to lose shielding or structural integrity, he knew, so determining how much time he could spend searching for help before he had to go back to rescue survivors was a bit thorny. But Tom had been in situations requiring more precise timing before.

_Right, and you got your friends killed, remember?_

Pushing the thoughts of his "incident" at Caldik Prime aside, Tom scanned the area again. There was a Federation ship closing in fast. Tom let out a breath. "Damn it." Its warp signature was unmistakable: it was Starfleet.

* * *

**USS Bradbury**

"This is hands-down the worst thing I have ever had to do in my entire life," L'Naan said. "If this is demonstrating Qness, I don't know if I want to be a Q."

"It's too late," Charlie reminded her. "You already are." He nodded at the sensor data between them. "There is he is."

L'Naan looked down at the helm controls. She'd had flying lessons from her father before, but she'd never actually piloted a ship on her own. One of the advantages of being Q, though, was that lessons weren't necessary to acquire a new skill. She set a course to intercept. "We'll be in range in two minutes," she reported.

"You'd better change your appearance," Charlie warned.

"So had you." She snapped, and they both donned Starfleet security uniforms.

Charlie's hand tentatively felt the bangs across his forehead and then his ears. "You made us Vulcans?"

"It's more believable." She looked at him and for a moment forgot the churning in her stomachs. "You look great, by the way." She planted a kiss on Charlie's cheek. "Thank you for doing this with me."

Charlie nodded and returned his attention to the readout in front of him. "One minute."

"I'm increasing speed so we can intercept faster," L'Naan said. She looked down at the sensors. "Ah, he's spotted us. He's matching our speed. He's going to try to outmaneuver us."

"What does that mean?"

"He'll try to fly somewhere where we can't follow. We're going to have to go faster."

_Come on, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be._

"We've got him. I'm bringing us up behind him." Their Starfleet patrol ship swooped directly behind the shuttle, and she hailed it. "Maquis ship, stand down and prepare to be boarded. You are in direct violation of the Treaty of 2370."

The shuttle came about and fired before it flew above them and took off. L'Naan and Charlie were jostled from their seats.

"He's firing on us!" Charlie said with surprise.

"I should have known he wouldn't back down easily. Fire back – just target his weapons. Don't hurt him. I'm setting our course to follow him."

Charlie looked thoughtfully down at the panel in front of him. He tapped a few commands, and their forward phasers fired at the shuttle's weapons systems. "His weapons are offline."

"I'm hailing him again," she reported. "Maquis ship, stand down and prepared to be boarded. You are under arrest for high treason."

The Maquis shuttle flew past them again, trying to confuse them with its evasive maneuvers. L'Naan's hands danced over the helm controls, but she was nowhere near skilled enough to keep up.

"Do something!" Charlie yelled as their ship rocked violently from her flying and the incoming phaser fire.

"I don't want to hurt him!" she called back. "You're going to have to take out his propulsion, or he's just going to keep going. Carefully, Charlie, please – I don't want him to lose antimatter containment."

Charlie nodded and fired on the ship three more times. L'Naan grimaced as she watched the ship being buffeted out the viewport. It finally came to a stop.

"What next?" Charlie asked.

"What's the status of his shields?"

Charlie shrugged. "How should I know?"

"We can't transport him if his shields are intact," she snapped. "Fire on him one more time for good measure – target his shields."

"I'll be careful," Charlie promised. He hit the shuttle one last time with their phasers. "His shields are down."

With a deep breath, L'Naan locked onto the one lifesign aboard the shuttle. As the transporter shimmered to completion, L'Naan watched, still slightly uncertain that this was the best way to prove her salt as a Q. But it had to be done; it had already been done, and the past, present, and future all depended upon her carrying out what already was.

"You can do it," Charlie encouraged.

L'Naan nodded and picked up a phaser. She pointed it toward where the prisoner was materializing. "You are under arrest for violation of Treaty of 2370," she repeated. "State your name for the record."

The prisoner raised his hands carelessly in surrender. "Tom Paris," he said. "I'm surprised you didn't catch me sooner."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Earth, San Francisco, Residence of Ensign Andrew Kim, 2401**

Andrew Kim shifted his hold on his wife slightly, and she adjusted herself across his body with a sleepy moan. One of his hands stroked her back gently while the other worked its way out from underneath her and came to rest on her head, holding her close against him. Miral nuzzled her face deeper into his chest without waking up. Andrew was physically exhausted but unable to sleep. This was the second night in a row that he'd stayed awake watching her. And though he was tired, really tired, it was the last night before Miral rejoined the Galileo for a second tour, back on assignment, and Andrew intended to take advantage of every minute he had with her.

It was only because he was awake that he heard the faint knock on their bedroom door. A slight tap from someone who wasn't fully sure if she wanted to bother them but was clearly compelled to anyway. He hurriedly pulled the blankets over his and Miral's nude forms as L'Naan Paris walked into the bedroom and over to his side of the bed.

"Are you naked under there?" she asked with a bemused laugh.

"Yes," he said with annoyance. "What are you doing here? In our bedroom in the middle of the night?"

L'Naan flashed herself to Miral's side of the bed and peered down at her sister. "She still sleeps heavily, huh? When we were little, my dad used to say she slept like a drunken warrior after too much bloodwine." She waved her head, and Miral was suddenly up and alert – and confused.

"Whaaaa….?" Andrew helpfully pointed to L'Naan, and Miral's confusion quickly turned into anger. "Damn it, L'Naan! You said you were not going to use your powers on us!"

"I only do it to you," L'Naan said nonchalantly, "not to Andrew."

"You still haven't told us why you're here," Andrew prompted. "Give us some pajamas, will you?"

She did as requested. "I just got back from the most amazing adventure, and I thought I would tell you about it."

"Not now, you can't," he informed her angrily.

"You never used to be so mean to me, Andrew. You used to be on my side."

"I'm trying to keep you in check," he said. "Omnipotence has changed you. My dad said you turned up in his ready room without warning. What were you thinking, L'Naan?"

"I guess I wasn't," she said, biting her lip. "Tell Harry and Libby I'm really sorry. I just wanted to see them."

"L'Naan," Miral interrupted, "you are welcome to stay here tonight, and we can talk in the morning, or you can leave. But we aren't talking now."

"But I don't require sleep!"

"Then make yourself tired. _Get out_."

"I know something about your next mission."

"I don't want to know," Miral said firmly. _"Get out, petaQ."_

"Something happened with Charlie, and I really need to talk about it," L'Naan finally admitted.

Andrew frowned, knowing Miral would be unmoved by L'Naan's sudden emotional outburst. "Okay," he said gently, "first thing in the morning. Let us get a few hours of sleep first. Please."

L'Naan nodded silently and left their room on foot.

Miral turned to Andrew, eyes in disbelief. He shook his head as he said, "And I thought marrying into a family of Klingons was going to be a problem."

* * *

"Don't be mad at me, Miral," L'Naan pleaded the next morning as Miral stumbled into the living room in her pajamas. "It's really important."

"What is so important that you had to barge into my bedroom in the middle of the night? Did you finally agree to go back to Galor IV?"

"It's about the Q," L'Naan said quietly, slumping into an armchair with her eyes downcast. She'd been so absorbed in the whirlwind past few weeks that she'd forgotten her android project all together. It had been a goal of hers since childhood, and now it seemed a silly, insignificant thing to have spent time on. The thought made her sad.

"What is it?" Miral asked more gently, recognizing her sister's worry.

"I finally demonstrated Qness."

"How?"

L'Naan bit her lip and shook her head. "I really, really want to tell you how because it's the worst thing I've ever done in my whole life, and it makes me sick just thinking about it, but I can't. I can't tell anyone. I never will."

"What do you mean?"

"Suffice it to say I made a sacrifice that was necessary for all of us, and it was awful. But now I have to join the Continuum. Forever."

"What?"

"The rule about having Q powers is that I have to join the Continuum. I can't stay in human form, living among humans."

"You're joking."

L'Naan looked at her sister with wide eyes. "I'm really serious. I didn't tell you before – I didn't tell anyone but Andrew. The Q are dying, and they need me. Now that I've proven my Qness, I have to go save them, or stay here and know that I'm responsible for their death."

"No offense, little sister," Miral said as delicately as she could, "but are you sure you're that important?"

"I wish I wasn't," L'Naan replied.

* * *

**Torres-Paris Family Residence**

Andrew paced around the kitchen counter, wondering exactly how it was that the two of them had talked him into this duty. One of the things he liked about Starfleet was the chain of command. He always knew who outranked him, and whose orders he had to obey. He also knew that they were organized by division for a reason. Engineers shouldn't fly ships; they wouldn't be able to concentrate on astronomical phenomena as they worried about systems operations. Scientists shouldn't try to fix things; their objective was not problem-solving but the creation of problems, of experimenting and hypothesizing. In his home life, in stark contrast to Starfleet, everything was out of control. He took orders from his wife's little sister, and he, who had no diplomatic training and no command experience, had been thrust into the role of bearer of bad news.

"You're going to wear out the floor," Tom teased him. "Something on your mind?" He held out a beer, which Andrew gratefully accepted and drank.

"I'm just the emissary," he prefaced. "It's about L'Naan."

B'Elanna looked up from the padd she was reading with some concern.

"You know how Charlie is back?" They nodded. "You remember how he invited her to join the Continuum?"

"How could we possibly forget for even one second?" B'Elanna said in a scathing tone.

Andrew winced. "Right, well, you know how he gave her Q powers?"

"Drew," Tom interrupted with a slight smirk, "we were hoping to eat dinner in about two hours, so do you think you could spit out whatever it is you're trying to say by then?"

"L'Naan has to join the Continuum or we'll all die." Well, the delivery was certainly more melodramatic than he'd anticipated, not at all befitting a Starfleet officer, but he'd been rushed. He sighed. "L'Naan finally demonstrated Qness."

"How?" Tom asked.

"She won't say," Andrew reported. "She says we can't know. But now she has to join the Continuum for good. Apparently, the catch to having Q powers is that you can't stay living among humans. Miral and L'Naan wanted me to tell you because L'Naan still doesn't know what's she's going to do, and she's worried that your reaction will sway her decision."

"I don't understand what decision there is," B'Elanna said. "She needs to stay here, with her family, and finish school. Why is what happens to the Q so important? They've never cared about what happens to us."

"That's not quiet true," Andrew said quietly, but he stopped when he saw Tom shaking his head slightly.

"B'Elanna, I think what Andrew's saying is that the Q might be as much her family now as we are," Tom suggested. "Go on, Drew."

"What I'm going to tell you can't leave this room," he said solemnly. "The Q are losing immortality, and without L'Naan's help, they'll all eventually die."

"Are you sure this isn't another one of their tricks?" B'Elanna asked with obvious suspicion.

Andrew shook his head. "And if the Q die, it'll upset the balance of the universe, and eventually, we'll all die. So L'Naan's choice isn't to go gallivanting about, abandoning you, or to stay here. It's whether or not to leave you for a greater cause."

Tom and B'Elanna looked at each other. Andrew had turned out to be quite the emissary; the idea of sacrificing oneself for a greater cause was something they both understood. And admired.

* * *

**Space**

"Isn't it impolite to flash a Q somewhere without warning her first?" L'Naan asked her companion with a smile on her face that said she wasn't at all upset.

"What were you doing, anyway?" Charlie asked.

"Miral and I are practicing how we're going to tell my parents. Why did you bring me here?"

"The Continuum are not happy, L'Naan. You told Andrew about our loss of powers."

"Yes, I did," she admitted.

"And he told your parents. In fact, several people now know. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to them."

L'Naan put her arms around his neck. "The Continuum can take that up with me directly. What you all need to understand is that telling others about your vulnerabilities can sometimes lead to help."

Charlie shook his head. "I'd better bring you to them."

"You're taking me to the Continuum?" she nearly squealed with delight. "Not some human representation, but the real thing?"

Charlie nodded. "I should warn you. They were very pleased with your demonstration of Qness. You definitely understand the nature of nonlinear existence. But they're going to give you a hard time about telling our secret."

"It's my secret now, too," she reminded him. "If I'm going to help you, I'm going to need allies. This is how my people do things. We share their secrets with friends who can help them. I'm not afraid of the Continuum, and if they're smart, they'll let me try things my way." She kissed Charlie's cheek. "Let's go."

* * *

**Earth, San Francisco, Torres-Paris Family Residence**

"It won't be different," L'Naan heard herself saying. She suppressed a smile. Now that she'd had time to get used to the idea, she was excited about joining the Q Continuum. After Charlie had taken her for a sneak preview while Miral was frozen in time, unaware, L'Naan had come back more convinced than ever of her choice. And it wasn't just for her own pleasure, she reminded herself. She was serving an important role in the history of existence as they knew it. "It won't really change anything."

Miral rolled her eyes at her sister's naiveté. "Oh, L'Naan, of course it will change everything! Do you really think that you're still going to be able to talk to Mom about engineering? Or obey Dad when he tells you to eat your asparagus? Please!"

"So I won't talk to Mom about engineering," L'Naan replied nonchalantly. "But you'll still tell me all about all the annoying things Andrew does?"

"Maybe you could get him to stop wheezing in his sleep?" Miral was hopeful for a moment, realizing that a Q as a sister may not be an entirely bad thing. Then she dismissed the thought. "Come on, little sister, I'll still be here – but you – you'll be gone…you'll be different…with Junior."

"His name is Charlie now," L'Naan reminded her. "And don't you feel a little happy for me? I'm – well, I did it. I showed Qness. I'm the savior of the Q."

"And I'm the _kuvah'magh_," Miral retorted dryly. "The savior of the Klingons."

"I guess that makes me one hell of a father," Tom declared as he entered the room. He smiled at the older daughter. "Ensign, you don't visit nearly often enough."

"Hiya, Dad."

"Aren't you supposed to be on assignment somewhere?"

Miral pointed toward her sister. "We can thank this one's friend. Somehow – magically – our mission got delayed when the comet we were going to study crashed into a yellow dwarf. We have to wait another week for all the radiation flooding the area to dissipate before we can even investigate. I wonder how a comet crashes into something ten light-years off its course."

"Don't blame me," L'Naan said. "Charlie promised I would get to see you before I had to leave, but he never told me how."

Tom sat down between them on the sofa and then put his arms around each of them. "It's nice to have you both home, even if we have the Q to thank."

"Not for long, Dad," Miral warned. "She made up her mind."

Tom's cheery countenance slipped, but he caught himself and patted L'Naan's knee. "So you're going then? First Paris to become immortal?"

L'Naan nodded. "I'll come back to visit a lot, Daddy. I promise."

Tom and Miral exchanged a glance that said, _Yeah, right._

"Well, I guess what we have to worry about now," Tom said, mustering all the phony enthusiasm for her decision that he could, "is who's going to tell your mother."

"Computer, freeze program." Miral rose and walked around the still hologram of her father. She leaned in close to his face and peered at its placid expression. She straightened. "No, no, this isn't Dad at all. He's going to go Bolian on you. Maybe you should try Mom first."

"Miral, you're in Starfleet," her little sister chastised. "Should you really still say things like 'go Bolian'?"

"Don't be vulky and reset the program, tribble," Miral ordered with a self-satisfied smirk at her wildly offensive expressions – which Ensign Paris would _never_ utter but which Miral the big sister savored hurling at her younger sibling.

L'Naan rose and called out, "Computer, eliminate Tom character and replace with B'Elanna character. Reinitialize. Begin program."

They sat back down on the sofa, side by side. A moment later, B'Elanna entered the living room in full warrior attire. As she marched in heavy boots past them toward the bedrooms, she called out, "That is the last time I let Ambassador Gorgh talk me into a singing contest!" Miral and L'Naan exchanged a surprised, amused look. After a minute, B'Elanna returned in a jade green civilian outfit, holding a dermal regenerator over her bare forearm. "Who knew that _singing_ was a blood sport?"

"Rough day at work, Mom?" Miral asked with a stifled laugh.

B'Elanna looked back and forth between them. "What's going on?"

L'Naan took a deep breath before saying calmly, "Mom, I've made a decision. I'm going to join the Q."

The dermal regenerator didn't stand a chance. It hit the wall the minute B'Elanna heard that most noxious letter of the Standard alphabet. She growled uncontrollably.

Miral patiently walked across the room, picked up the regenerator, and returned to her mother. Holding the instrument out, she said with an exhausted sigh, "Really, mother, what good is that going to do?"

"Mom," L'Naan quickly interrupted, rushing toward B'Elanna, "I'll visit all the time." She put a hand on her mother's healed arm and nervously awaited the response.

B'Elanna took a deep, calming breath as she turned to her younger daughter. "You are _not_ going to join the Q Continuum. I forbid it!"

L'Naan looked to Miral for assistance.

"You can't forbid her, Mother," Miral said with an exasperated sigh. "It's fated."

"Aren't you even upset about losing your sister?"

"Nobody's losing anybody," L'Naan reminded them both. "This doesn't change anything."

B'Elanna snorted and took a seat on the sofa. She patted the cushion next to her, and L'Naan complied. Miral sat gingerly on B'Elanna's other side, in anticipation of trouble. But to her surprise, the holographic representation of her mother put her arms around both daughters, as holo-Tom had. Miral leaned against the warm shoulder and savored a moment of maternal comfort, even if she knew it wasn't real.

"L'Naan," B'Elanna said softly, "I know this was meant to be. I know you are not a child anymore. But you have to understand that for me, and for your father, you will always be our baby."

"Oh, Mom."

Miral's head was rudely tossed from her mother's shoulder as B'Elanna and L'Naan hugged, oblivious to her presence. She glared at them.

"Mom," she said once their tender moment was over, "do you understand why L'Naan has to go?"

"I don't like it," B'Elanna said, "but I understand. Your father, though, is going to go Bolian. You think I'm protective?" She stroked L'Naan's hair. "He's going to try to single-handedly bring down the Continuum."

"Any suggestions on how I can tell him?"

"Send a subspace message after you're gone?" Miral proposed.

"No, we'll do it together, the three of us," B'Elanna determined. "Just tell Charlie that any time he takes human form, his life will be in danger."

The arch to the small holosuite appeared then, admitting Andrew. He walked in and looked with surprise at the three women cuddled together on the sofa.

"What are you doing?" he asked, taking a seat on the coffee table to face them. "Everyone's in the living room, waiting. Your parents, Chakotay, Janeway, Charlie, Icheb, even Lenaris came."

"They sent you to check on us?" his young wife asked. Andrew nodded.

"What's the mood like out there?" L'Naan asked worriedly.

"Now that they understand why you're doing it – the whole story – it's not so bad," Andrew reported.

"Well, come on, little sis," Miral said. "I think we've gotten enough practice. Time for the real thing." As she stood and passed Andrew, she kissed him lightly, bidding him hello, and the three started for the exit of the holosuite. Miral paused slightly on the threshold and turned to L'Naan. "By the way, Mom would never say 'go Bolian.'"

Andrew fell in step with L'Naan as they headed for the living room. "My dad says he's sorry he yelled at you, and that any time you want to talk, you can come to his ready room."

L'Naan's mouth puckered slightly. "Tell him and Libby that I love them."

Andrew leaned close and dropped his voice so Miral wouldn't overhear. "Don't tell me you're not excited. I know you."

L'Naan nodded in affirmation as a grin erupted onto her face.

It dropped the moment they entered the living room. Andrew was right: it was a veritable who's who her friends and family. She groaned inwardly, and being flanked by Andrew and Miral did little to reassure her.

"Hello, everyone," she said with as much ebullience as she could manage. The moment of truth had arrived.

* * *

"Well, squirt," Tom said, crushing her to him and talking over her head, "I guess this is where you get off the ship." He blinked a little rapidly before he released her.

L'Naan stretched on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Daddy," she whispered sadly.

"Don't be sorry, squirt," he said, not understanding her meaning. "Just promise that you'll come back often to visit."

"Just yell my name, and I'll come in a flash," she promised.

"How do we know you're going to be all right?" B'Elanna asked.

L'Naan shrugged. "How do you know anyway? How do you know Miral is safe on the Galileo?"

"Because we know what life in Starfleet is like," B'Elanna answered, knowing fully how feeble her arguments were. She sighed and hugged her daughter tightly. "I'm proud of you, you know. And I love you."

After a moment, L'Naan wriggled out of her grasp. She smiled happily at them, eager to begin her new life, and with an underwhelming snap of her fingers and a flash of light, she was gone.

Tom put an arm around B'Elanna, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was as it had been in the beginning – just the two of them. Many years and many memories later, with two daughters scattered around the galaxy. But for the moment, it was just them, a familiar pairing that they slid easily into as they looked around their empty house.

Their new lives were beginning.

**The End**

**

* * *

**

_There it is, folks, the whole darn saga. If you've made it this far, then I humbly thank you and welcome your feedback. --Kezhke  
_


End file.
